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IN  MEMOR1AM 
BERNARD  MOSES 


LIFE    OF   ROBERT   BICKERSTETH 

BISHOP  OF  RIPON 


:H 

THE   LIFE   AND   EPISCOPATE 
THE  RIGHT  REVERENJ) 

:,RT  BICKERSTETH,  D,D. 

BISHOP   OF  RIPjQN,  '1857—1884 

BY  HIS. SON 

H.-M.A. 


WITH  A   PREFACE  BY  HIS  COUSIN 

EDWARD   HENRY  BICKERSTETH,  D.D. 

'  LORD   BISHOP   OF   EXETER 


Jfcefo 

£.     P.     OUTTON     AND     CO 

PUJ  , 


A    SKETCH 

OF    THE   LIFE    AND    EPISCOPATE   OF 
THE  RIGHT  REVEREND 

ROBERT   BICKERSTETH,  D.D 

BISHOP    OF  RIPON,    1857—1884 

BY  HIS  SON 

MONTAGU    CYRIL   BICKERSTETH,  M.A. 

l\ 

VICAR   OF   ST.    PAUL'S,    PUDSEY,    LEEDS 


WITH  A   PREFACE  BY  HIS   COUSIN 

EDWARD   HENRY  BICKERSTETH,   D.D. 

LORD   BISHOP   OF   EXETER 


E.     P.     DUTTON     AND     COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS  AND   IMPORTERS 
31,   WEST  TWENTY-THIRD   STREET 

MDCCCLXXXVII 


TO    HER 

WHOSE  LOVING  DEVOTION 

WAS  THE  CHIEF  EARTHLY  COMFORT 

OF  HER  HUSBAND'S  LIFE, 

THIS   VOLUME 
IS    DEDICATED    IN    GRATITUDE    AND    LOVE. 


887335 


THIS  volume  will'  be*  treasured-  oy'mahy,  ks  recording  for 
them  the  deliberate  judgments  of  no  common  man  on 
some  of  the  great  religious  and  social  problems  of  our  time. 
These  judgments  are  not  always  expressed  in  his  sayings 
or  writings,  though  not  seldom  the  reader  will  be  able  to 
glean  them  from  extracts  of  letters,  or  speeches,  or  Charges 
in  the  following  pages.  But  even  when  not  so  expressed, 
the  mind  of  the  workman  is  transparent  in  his  work.  He 
was  a  working  Bishop  in  a  working  age  ;  and  what  he  did, 
as  sketched  in  this  biography,  tells  what  he  thought.  It 
has  been  so  with  many  of  the  truest  sons  of  this  nineteenth 
century.  They  have  had  but  little  leisure  for  writing 
learned  treatises.  They  have  wrought  the  twelve  hours  of 
the  solid  day.  But  their  actions,  prompt,  decisive,  master- 
ful, in  perplexed  circumstances  have  proved  an  intimate 
acquaintance  with  the  great  issues  at  stake.  Such  a 
labourer  was  Robert  Bickersteth. 

And  this  makes  me  regret  the  less  that  an  interval  of 
nearly  three  years  has  elapsed  since  his  death,  before  these 
memorials  have  been  given  to  the  Church.  When  a  Cathe- 
dral stands  in  the  centre  of  a  crowded  city,  you  may  be 


vi  PREFACE. 


very  near  it,  and  yet  see  little  or  nothing  of  its  grandeur  ;  a 
row  of  ordinary  houses  may  obscure  or  hide  it  altogether  ; 
but  if  you  pass  beyond  the  city  walls  and  gain  a  distant 
point  of  view,  you  see  at  once  how  easily  that  Minster  in 
its  magnificent  structure  and  proportions  dwarfs  all  the 
inferior  buildings  around  it,  and  is  the  centre  to  which  all 
the  thoroughfares 'apd.  streets  .QOJI  verge.  And  the  work  of 
many  servants  of  Christ  i§  ""hot  :f atiy  known  even  by  the 
men  of  their  owrl  gehbjtejtion/ufctit  tfe. lapse  of  time  reveals 
its  symmetry  and  completeness.  This  memoir  will  at  least 
afford  a  vantage  ground  from  which  to  contemplate  the 
life  now  before  us. 

All  patient  observers  must  acknowledge  the  simplicity 
and  godly  sincerity  of  his  course.  His  character  was  in- 
deed without  a  fold.  As  an  undergraduate  at  Cambridge, 
as  a  curate  at  Sapcote  and  Reading,  as  Vicar  of  St.  John's 
Clapham,  as  Rector  of  St.  Giles-in-the- Fields,  as  Canon  of 
Salisbury,  as  Bishop  of  one  of  the  most  arduous  dioceses  in 
England — whether  as  pastor  and  evangelist,  or  as  a  stan- 
dard-bearer in  the  front  ranks  of  Evangelical  Churchmen  ; 
whether  in  the  sacred  circle  of  his  own  home,  as  son,  and 
brother,  and  husband,  and  father,  and  friend,  or  on  the  public 
platform  and  in  the  House  of  Lords,  as  an  unflinching 
witness  for  the  truth  and  denouncer  of  compromise, — one 
motive  animated  Robert  Bickersteth,  and  all  who  knew 
him  will  confess  the  motive  was,  The  love  of  Christ  con- 
straineth  us  not  to  live  unto  ourselves,  but  unto  Him  Who 
died  for  us. 

It  was  this  which  gave  him  such  influence  with  men 


PREFACE.  Vll 


of  all  parties  in  the  Church  and  State.  It  was  not  only 
his  genial  courtesy  to  all,  nor  his  singular  felicity  of  utter- 
ance, nor  his  indefatigable  labours  in  journeying  and  preach- 
ing and  correspondence,  nor  his  administrative  power, 
invaluable  as  these  talents  were,  but  it  was  his  unwavering 
adherence  to  the  Scriptural  principles  of  our  Reformed 
Church,  and  his  downright  honesty  in  avowing  them,  which 
made  men  feel  they  could  trust  him  through  and  through. 
They  rallied  round  one  who  was  staunch  and  true  to  the 
Church  of  their  fathers.  I  have  been  told  by  members  of 
the  Upper  House  of  Convocation,  that  his  clear  incisive 
sentences  in  the  united  meetings  of  Bishops  at  Lambeth 
were  looked  for  with  an  interest,  and  listened  to  with  a 
respect  not  inferior  to  that  accorded  to  the  eloquent 
words  of  the  late  Bishop  Wilberforce  of  Winchester.  Even 
where  others  conscientiously  and  resolutely  differed  from 
him  (and  I  confess  on  the  subject  of  marriage  with  a 
deceased  wife's  sister,  I  strongly  hold  the  very  opposite 
view  to  that  he  strongly  advocated)  no  one  could  doubt 
the  sincerity  of  his  convictions,  nor  the  simplicity  of  his 
aim. 

Unwearying  industry,  and  an  apparently  inexhaustible 
cheerfulness  characterised  him.  I  remember  him  once 
saying  to  me,  "  You  cannot  think  what  those  words  have 
been  to  me  in  the  throng  and  pressure  of  work — '  Do  your 
best,  and  leave  the  rest.'  " 

He  did  his  best,  grudging  no  toil,  never  asking,  "Is 
it  so  nominated  in  the  bond  ?  "  seeking  only  the  Master's 
approval,  and  counting  not  his  life  dear  unto  himself,  that 


Vlll  PREFACE. 


he  might  finish  his  course  with  joy,  and  the  ministry  which 
he  had  received  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  to  testify  the  Gospel  of 
the  grace  of  God.  And  having  done  his  best,  he  could 
afford  to  leave  the  rest  confidingly  and  gladly  in  a  Heavenly 
Father's  hand.  Duties  were  his  ;  events  were  God's  ;  and 
thus  the  joy  of  the  Lord  was  his  strength.  It  never  seemed 
to  cross  his  mind,  Will  this  display  my  knowledge,  my 
judgment,  my  tact  ?  but  only,  Is  this  for  the  glory  of  God 
and  for  the  promotion  of  the  Redeemer's  kingdom  ?  And 
so,  amid  the  innumerable  claims  of  his  busy  life,  he  ever 
seemed  to  live  like  one  who  said — 

"All  is,  if  I  have  grace  to  use  it  so, 
As  ever  in  my  great  Taskmaster's  eye," 

and  realized  the  double  benediction  which  rested  on 
Abraham  of  old,  "  I  will  bless  thee,  and  thou  shalt  be  a 
blessing."  Surely  it  was  of  such  single-hearted  labourers 
Charles  Kingsley  sang — 

"Be  good,  and  let  who  will  be  clever : 
Do  noble  things,  not  dream  them,  all  day  long ; 
And  so  make  life,  death,  and  that  vast  for-ever, 
One  grand  sweet  song." 

I  have  deeply  felt  the  responsibility  of  reading  the 
proof  sheets  of  this  memoir  as  they  passed  through  the 
press,  for  it  has  brought  me  into  such  close  contact  with 
one  whose  walk  with  God  and  consecration  to  duty  must, 
I  think,  be  very  humbling  to  all  who  are  seeking  to  be 
imitators  of  those  who  by  faith  and  patience  inherit  the 
promises.  God  grant  us  all  to  follow  him  as  he  followed 
Christ. 


PREFACE.  IX 


This  life  needs  no  preface.  It  speaks  for  itself.  But 
I  cannot  close  these  few  words  without  saying  how  much 
I  am  persuaded  the  Church  is  indebted  to  his  son,  who, 
aided  by  other  members  of  his  family  circle,  has  so  patiently 
and  skilfully  grouped  together  these  life-etchings  of  his 
beloved  and  honoured  father.  The  biographer  is  hidden 
throughout ;  for  his  only  object  has  been  to  present  his 
father  to  us  just  as  he  was,  a  noble  type  of  personal 
piety,  of  Evangelical  Churchmanship,  and  of  whole-hearted 
devotion  in  every  office  of  the  ministry  to  the  Great 
Shepherd  and  Bishop  of  souls. 

E.  H.  EXON. 

THE  PALACE,  EXETER, 
January  7,  1887. 


ILLUSTRA  TIONS 

PORTRAIT  OF  BISHOP  BICKERSTETH "'    Frontispiece 

GRAVE  AT  RIPON Face  p.  302 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I. 
EARLY  FAMILY  HISTORY. 

PAGE 

Influence  of  family  and  early  training — The  Bickersteths  of  Kirkby  Lons- 
dale — The  brothers,  Henry  (Lord  Langdale),  Robert,  Edward,  Rector 
of  Watton,  and  John,  Vicar  of  Acton — The  Gorham  Judgment  and 
the  Evangelical  party — Friendship  with  Rev.  C.  Simeon — Mrs.  John 
Bickersteth,  her  character  and  influence  upon  her  children,  extracts 
from  her  devotional  books  .  .  I 


CHAPTER  II. 
BOYHOOD  AT  ACTON. 

The  parish  of  Acton — Pupils  at  the  vicarage — Dean  Alford,  Bishop  Pel- 
ham,  etc. — Recollections  of  the  latter — A  model  parish — Large  num- 
bers of  communicants —  Strict  churchmanship  of  the  older  Evangelicals 
— Robert  Bickersteth  as  a  boy — His  early  talent  for  surgery — Portrait 
of  a  true  parish  priest — Evangelical,  but  not  Low  Church  ....  19 

CHAPTER  III. 

YOUTH  AND  EARLY  MANHOOD. 

Death  of  Mrs.  John  Bickersteth — A  career  in  the  navy  promised,  but  ex- 
changed for  that  of  a  doctor — Robert  Bickersteth  a  medical  student  in 
London  and  Paris — He  comes  under  the  influence  of  Henry  Melville 
— Goes  to  Cambridge  with  a  view  to  ordination — His  first  curacy  at 
Sapcote — Reading  and  Clapham — His  first  sermon  and  studious  life — 
Tenderness  and  sympathy  with  the  poor — What  a  little  child  thought 
of  Cousin  Robert's  sermons — Appointment  to  St.  John's,  Clapham,  and 
marriage  with  Miss  Elisabeth  Garde — A  crowded  church  and  attached 
congregation — Growing  reputation  as  a  preacher — Style  and  matter  of 
his  preaching — Controversy  with  Rome,  and  work  in  connection  with 
Irish  Church  Missions 33 


Xll  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

ST.  GILES'S,  1851-1857. 

PAGE 

Rector  of  St.  Giles's — Organisation  of  an  overgrown  parish — Secular  and 
sanitary  work — Strong  views  on  the  connection  between  the  physical 
condition  of  the  people  and  spiritual  work — The  possibilities  of  vast 
improvement — What  the  Church  has  done  for  London — A  sudden 
diminution  of  income  and  providential  supply  of  temporal  wants — 
Offer  of  canonry  at  Salisbury  and  other  preferment — Lay  work  and 
district  visitors — A  controversial  class  for  inquiring  Romanists  ...  57 

CHAPTER  V. 

SALISBURY,  1854-1856. 

Residence  at  Salisbury — Intercourse  with  Bishop  Hamilton — Strict  atten- 
tion to  cathedral  duties — Correspondence  with  Bishop  Hamilton — 
Bible  Society,  etc. — Narrative  of  the  way  in  which  my  father  received 
the  offer  of  Ripon — Palmerstonian  bishops — Bishop  Ryan's  summary 
of  Providential  preparation  for  the  episcopate  .  .  t  .....  78 

CHAPTER  VI. 

DIOCESE  OF  RIPON,  1857. 

Diocese  of  Ripon — Wilfrid  and  the  distant  past — Reconstitution  of  the 
See  in  1836 — Bishop  Longley  and  his  work — Rapid  progress  and  great 
needs — Dr.  Hook's  work  at  Leeds — His  estimate  of  religious  life  in 
Yorkshire — Relations  between  High  Churchmen  and  an  Evangelical 
Bishop — Rev.  C.  Clayton — Letters  from  Dr.  Hook  and  Bishop  Barry  90 

CHAPTER  VII. 

DIOCESAN  WORK:   PREACHING. 

The  chief  duty  of  a  bishop — Incessant  preaching — Outdoor  services — 
"  Gig  Bishops  " — Sympathy  with  sufferers  from  the  Oaks  Colliery  dis- 
aster— A  Sunday  at  Barnsley — Watchfulness  and  energy — Confirma- 
tions— Tact  in  winning  over  Dissenters  to  the  Church — Letter  from  Sir 
E.  Baines 104 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

HOME  LIFE  AT  RIPON. 

Home  life  at  Ripon — Depth  and  tenderness  of  domestic  affection — Letters 
to  his  wife — The  Palace  and  the  garden — The  village  of  North  Leys — 
Spiritual  care  of  the  villagers — Early  rising  and  methodical  habits — 
Sundays  at  the  Palace — A  custom  of  the  Clapham  sect — Letters  to  his 


CONTENTS.  Xlll 


PAGE 

children — Tender  solicitude  for  their  spiritual  welfare — Advice  on 
school  and  college  life — On  ordination  and  the  choice  of  a  curacy — 
Happy  relations  with  the  cathedral  and  city — Dr.  McNeile — Letter 
from  Dean  Fremantle — Singular  happiness  of  his  home  life — The  first 
break  in  1872 — Death  of  Ernest — Letters  from  his  tutor — Recollections 
of  Rev.  C.  Cobb  .  .121 


CHAPTER  IX. 

DIOCESAN  WORK:   CHURCH  BUILDING  AND  CHURCH  RESTORATION. 

Church  building  and  restoration — Movement  in  the  great  towns — Splendid 
liberality  of  Yorkshire  churchmen — Letter  to  a  non-resident  incumbent 
— Jealous  regard  for  the  interest  of  the  Church  and  tenderness  in  cen- 
suring defaulting  clergy — Letters  from  friends  of  one  to  whom  the 
Bishop  specially  ministered,  and  from  Bishop  Kennion  of  Adelaide  .  145 

CHAPTER  X. 

DIOCESAN  WORK:    ORDINATIONS. 

Ordinations  at  Ripon — Searching  inquiry  into  motives  of  candidates — 
Efforts  to  raise  the  standard — Theological  colleges — Letter  to  the  Dean 
of  Lichfield— The  Leeds  Clergy  School— Letter  of  Rev.  C.  Cobb— 
Reminiscences  of  a  clergyman  ordained  at  Ripon 162 

CHAPTER  XI. 

LONDON  WORK. 

London  work — The  House  of  Lords — Letter  from  Archbishop  of  York 
(Musgrave)— Speeches  on  Deceased  Wife's  Sister's  Bill— On  disestab- 
lishment of  the  Irish  Church — Life  in  London — Wants  to  preach  every 
night — Political  opinions — Relations  with  eminent  statesmen — Letter 
from  Mr.  Disraeli  on  Church  questions — The  Bishop  of  Durham  (Dr. 
Baring),  and  the  question  of  his  successor — Work  on  Ecclesiastical 
Commission,  etc. — Tribute  of  Bishop  Thorold — May  Meetings  .  .  175 

CHAPTER  XII. 

OPINIONS  ON  QUESTIONS    OF  THE  DAY. 

Opinions  on  various  subjects — "  Essays  and  Reviews  " — Letter  to  a  clergy- 
man and  extract  from  Charge  on  rationalistic  interpretation  of  Holy 
Scripture — A  subtle  connection  between  rationalism  and  superstition — 
Condemnation  of  Ritualism — Letter  to  a  clergyman — Criticism  on  an 
erroneous  definition  of  the  "  Real  Presence  " — Wears  the  cope  in  Ripon 
Cathedral — Dislike  of  prosecution  for  ecclesiastical  offences — An  elo- 
quent appeal  for  personal  holiness  in  the  clergy 194 


XIV  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

DIOCESAN  WORK:   EDUCATION. 

PAGE 

Diocesan  work  —  Education  —  The  Training  College  —  Progress  of  ele- 
mentary education  in  the  diocese  before  1870 — Great  increase  of  Church 
schools — Diocesan  inspection  in  religious  knowledge — The  Bishop 
deeply  thankful  for  Mr.  Forster's  Bill — Analysis  of  the  Act — He 
warmly  advocates  the  increased  efficiency  of  Church  schools  and  the 
importance  of  religious  teaching — Speech  at  Huddersfield,  in  1879  .  218 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

RETREATS,  MISSIONS,  CHURCH  CONGRESS,  AND  DIOCESAN 
CONFERENCE. 

Retreats  and  Missions — Letter  from  Dr.  Gott — My  father  conducts  the 
first  Episcopal  Retreat  for  Clergy — Bishop  Kennion's  notes  of  his 
address — Advocates  Mission  work  and  takes  an  active  part  in  Missions 
in  Bradford,  Huddersfield,  Leeds,  etc. — The  Leeds  Mission  in  1875 — 
Letters  from  Canon  Temple  on  the  Church  Congress  at  Leeds,  and 
on  the  Diocesan  Conference — Bishop  Forbes  of  Brechin — Letter  from 
the  Rev.  H.  D.  Cust  Nunn  on  the  rural  deans'  conferences  ....  236 


CHAPTER  XV. 
EPISODES  OF  A  BUSY  LIFE. 

Hard  work  and  scanty  holidays — Confirmation  tours  in  the  dales — Hospi- 
tality of  the  laity — Visits  the  sick,  and  constantly  talks  with  working 
men  on  spiritual  things — A  railway  accident — Illness  in  1877 — Spends 
six  weeks  at  Cintra — Letters  home  from  thence — Experience  of  Roman 
Catholic  processions — Returns  home  —  The  exercise  of  patronage  — 
Practical  sympathy  with  the  impoverished  clergy — Temperance  work 
and  the  Navvy  Mission  Society 269 

CHAPTER  XVI. 
CLOSING   YEARS.        THE  END. 

Death  of  Craufurd  Tait — Pan- Anglican  Synod — Sermons  before  the  Synod 
and  the  Church  Congress  at  Sheffield — Visitation  in  1879 — Growing 
weakness — Hard  work  in  1880 — Winters  at  Bournemouth — Arrange- 
ments for  the  appointment  of  a  suffragan — Kind  help  of  Bishops  Ryan 
and  Hellmuth — Weakness,  but  regular  attention  to  letters  and  fervent 
intercession  for  the  diocese — Return  from  Bournemouth  in  March, 
1884 — Great  hopes  of  recovery,  and  the  sudden  end  on  Easter  Tuesday 
— The  funeral,  and  extracts  from  letters  ....  .  286 


CHAPTER  I. 

EARLY  FAMILY  HISTORY. 

Influence  of  family  and  early  training — The  Bickersteths  of  Kirkby 
Lonsdale — The  brothers,  Henry  (Lord  Langdale),  Robert,  Edward, 
Rector  of  Watton,  and  John,  Vicar  of  Acton--The  Gorham  Judg- 
ment and  the  Evangelical  party — Friendship  with  Rev.  C.  Simeon 
— Mrs.  John  Bickersteth,  her  character  and  influence  upon  her 
children,  extracts  from  her  devotional  books. 

PROFESSOR  DRUMMOND  reminds  us,  in  his  most  inte- 
resting chapter  on  environment  in  "  Natural  Law 
in  the  Spiritual  World,"  that  it  is  of  the  essence  of 
a  good  biography  to  point  out,  in  the  earlier  chapters, 
how  the  subject  has  been  influenced  by  his  parents 
and  remote  ancestors,  no  less  than  by  the  religious  and 
political  atmosphere  of  the  times  in  which  he  lived. 

This  is  especially  true  when  we  try  to  sketch 
the  portrait  of  one  who  may  be  regarded  as  a  typical 
representative  of  a  great  religious  movement. 

Bishop  Bickersteth  was  always  known  as  an 
Evangelical  bishop,  and,  though  no  one  was  more 
anxious  than  he  to  be  the  bishop  of  his  whole 
diocese  rather  than  the  bishop  of  a  party,  his  con- 
sistent public  action,  no  less  than  his  training  and  his 
avowed  sympathies,  leave  us  in  no  doubt  as  to  the 
party  within  the  Church  to  which  he  was  uniformly 
attached. 

B 


2          LIFE   OF  BISHOP   ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

Happily  now  the  old  party  lines  are  less  strongly 
marked.  Nevertheless,  a  very  large  body  of  the 
clergy  are  still  reckoned  aV Evangelicals,  and  not  a 
few  High  Chuirchine^.ar.G.ready^tO'^dmit  that  they 
owe  at  least  a^*'rhlfch*:tb;trre'Eva'«gelical  traditions 
as  to  the  great  Oxford  Movement  itself. 

It  is  this  which  gives  a  permanent  interest  to 
the  life  of  one  who  was  connected  by  birth  with  the 
pioneers  of  the  Evangelical  Movement,  and  who, 
through  the  course  of  a  long  ministerial  life,  never 
wavered  in  his  attachment  to  the  same  great  truths ; 
while  he  learned  to  love  and  work  in  harmony  with 
men  of  widely  different  views,  so  long  as  they  loved 
the  same  Lord  in  sincerity  and  truth. 

This  must  be  the  excuse,  if  one  is  needed,  for 
a  son,  who  desires  to  do  honour  to  his  father's 
memory,  and  to  sketch  his  life  as  best  he  can  for 
the  sake  of  many  who  loved  him,  as  well  as  for  the 
wider  circle  who  may  profit  by  reading  the  record 
of  a  good  man's  life. 

I  call  this  book  a  sketch,  for  there  is  material 
for  nothing  more.  My  father's  life  was  not  eventful  ; 
and  his  correspondence  consisted  almost  entirely  of 
short  business  letters.  Many  of  those  which  have 
been  preserved  are  admirable  illustrations  of  clear 
judgment  and  lucid  expression,  while  some  of  them, 
written  to  his  family  and  near  relatives,  are  the  index 
to  a  character  of  the  deepest  piety  and  the  tenderest 
affection ;  but  they  do  not  in  themselves  present  a 
complete  picture  of  his  mind,  like  the  letters  of 
Bishop  Thirlwall,  or  take  us  behind  the  scenes  of 
Church  politics,  as  many  letters  of  fascinating 
interest  preserved  in  the  life  of  Bishop  Wilberforce. 


HENRY  BICKERSTETH,    THE   SURGEON.  3 

All  I  can  attempt  to  do  is  to  show  something 
of  the  "  environment,"  and  let  a  busy  life  speak  for 
itself. 

To  follow  the  hint  of  Professor  Drummond  to 
which  I  have  already  alluded,  I  must  take  my 
readers  to  the  little  country  town  of  Kirkby  Lons- 
dale,  in  Westmoreland.  At  the  close  of  the  last 
century  there  lived  in  that  place  a  surgeon,  named 
Henry  Bickersteth.  The  family  name  was  often 
spelt  Bickerstaffe,  and  their  earlier  origin  is  to  be 
traced  to  the  manor  of  that  name  near  Ormskirk, 
in  Lancashire.1  Henry  Bickersteth,  the  surgeon, 
married  a  lady  named  Elisabeth  Batty.  She  was, 
according  to  the  testimony  of  all  who  knew  her,  a 
woman  of  strong  individuality  and  high  character, 
and  an  account  of  her  is  given  in  the  life  of  her  dis- 
tinguished son,  Edward  Bickersteth  of  Watton. 

Henry  Bickersteth  was  the  author  of  a  little 
book  entitled,  "  Medical  Hints  for  the  Use  of  Clergy- 
men," which  we  notice  with  interest,  because  it  is 
the  first  trace  of  the  steps  by  which  so  many  of  the 
family  have  been  led  from  the  cure  of  the  body  to 
the  cure  of  souls. 

The  surgeon's  family  was  a  large  one.  The 
eldest  son,  James  by  name,  was  lost  at  sea  in  early 


1  The  Bickersteths,  or  Bickerstaffes,  were  seated  at  Bickerstaffe  as  early 
as  the  twelfth  century.  In  the  reign  of  Edward  II.  the  office  of  Sheriff  of 
Lancashire  was  held  more  than  once  by  a  member  of  the  family,  and  Dugdale's 
"  Monasticon  "  testifies  to  numerous  benefactions  which  religious  houses  in  the 
county  received  at  the  hands  of  one  or  other  of  the  same  name.  The  manor 
passed,  by  the  marriage  of  an  heiress,  to  an  ancestor  of  the  present  Earl  of 
Derby,  but  a  branch  of  the  family  continued  to  reside  in  the  neighbourhood, 
until  James  Bickersteth,  or  Bickerstaffe,  the  father  of  the  above-named  Henry, 
left  his  native  county  to  settle  in  Westmoreland,  rather  before  the  middle  of 
the  last  century. 


4         LIFE    OF  BISHOP   ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

youth ;  but  his  four  brothers,  born  in  Kirkby 
Lonsdale,  each  earned  more  or  less  distinction  in 
Church  or  State. 

Henry,  the  third  son,  was,  like  the  rest,  intended 
by  his  father  for  the  medical  profession,  and  went 
to  London  in  his  sixteenth  year,  to  walk  the  hospitals 
with  his  uncle,  Dr.  Batty,  who  was  practising  there. 
He  seems  never  to  have  cared  for  his  father's  pro- 
fession, and  went  to  Caius  College,  Cambridge.  His 
University  career  was  one  of  great  distinction,  and 
he  took  his  degree  as  senior  wrangler  in  1808. 

In  those  days,  at  any  rate,  senior  wranglers 
made  themselves  a  name  in  after  life,  and  Henry 
Bickersteth  became  equally  distinguished  at  the  Bar. 
His  chief  public  work  was  devoted  to  the  reform 
of  legal  procedure,  and  he  showed  a  remarkable  ab- 
sence of  ambition  in  refusing  the  Great  Seal  when  it 
was  pressed  upon  him  by  Lord  John  Russell,  in  1850. 

He  had,  however,  been  raised  to  the  peerage  as 
Baron  Langdale,  many  years  before ;  and  held  the 
office  of  Master  of  the  Rolls  from  1836  till  his  death, 
in  1851. 

It  will  probably  be  interesting  to  my  readers  to 
be  reminded  that  Lord  Langdale,  as  Master  of  the 
Rolls,  drew  up  the  judgment  of  the  final  court  of 
appeal  in  the  celebrated  Gorham  case.  Whether 
right  or  wrong,  that  judgment  was  the  means  of 
preventing  a  schism  which  threatened  to  tear  asunder 
the  Church  of  England  ;  for  it  is  notorious  that  a 
large  section  of  the  Evangelical  clergy  would  have 
considered  their  position  in  the  Church  untenable,  if 
the  contention  of  the  Bishop  of  Exeter  had  been 
maintained.  As  it  is,  the  baptismal  controversy  has 


REV.    EDWARD    BICKERSTETH.  5 

well-nigh  ceased,  and  the  great  majority  of  the 
clergy  accept  the  language  of  the  Prayer-book  ; 
though  they  are  not  agreed  in  the  exact  sense  of 
the  word  "regenerate." 

Of  this  judgment,  Dean  Stanley  said,  in  the 
course  of  an  essay  on  the  connection  of  Church  and 
State— 

"  There  is  perhaps  no  decision  of  any  council  or  Holy 
Office  equal  in  moderation  and  insight  to  that  of  the  Gor- 
ham  judgment,  unless  it  be  that  which  so  greatly  resembles 
it,  in  its  inclusion  of  two  opposite  principles — the  decision 
of  the  first  Council  of  Jerusalem"  (Essay,  p.  284). 

Of  Edward  Bickersteth,  the  fourth  son,  there  is 
less  need  to  speak,  for  those  who  read  this  book 
are  likely  to  be  familiar  with  the  outline  of  his  life, 
and  as  a  great  leader  of  the  Evangelical  party,  and 
a  zealous  supporter  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society, 
his  name  is  in  all  the  Churches.  He  was  for  many 
years  Rector  of  Watton,  Herts. 

His  influence  and  position  were  almost  unique  ; 
his  spiritual  force  was  intense,  and  the  active  energy 
of  his  character  brought  him  into  contact  with  many 
of  the  most  zealous  clergy  throughout  the  country,1 
while  he  was  disposed  warmly  to  co-operate  with 
those  whom  he  regarded  as  Evangelical  ministers 
outside  the  Anglican  Church.  In  this  direction  he 
was  more  tolerant  or  more  lax  than  his  brother 


1  In  the  Life  of  Lord  Shaftesbury,  by  Mr.  Edwin  Hodder,  there  are  several 
allusions  to  the  intimate  relations  existing  between  the  Evangelical  leader  and 
the  great  philanthropist.  The  latter  wrote  in  his  journal,  February  i;th,  1850, 
"  Lord,  he  whom  Thou  lovest  is  sick.  Is  this  too  much  to  say  of  Bickersteth  ? 
I  trow  not.  This  dearly  beloved  friend  and  fellow -servant  is  grievously  ill  ; 
and  prayers,  we  bless  God,  are  daily  made  for  him  throughout  the  Church. 
How  little  can  we  afford  to  lose  such  a  champion  for  the  truth  !" 


6         LIFE   OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

John,  who  occupied  a  position  of  comparative  ob- 
scurity as  Vicar  of  Acton,  in  Suffolk,  and  after- 
wards Rector  of  Sapcote,  in  Leicestershire. 

Edward  Bickersteth  left  behind  him  one  son, 
who,  after  thirty  years  of  laborious  work  as  Vicar  of 
Christ  Church,  Hampstead,  was  appointed  to  the 
deanery  of  Gloucester  in  1885,  and  on  the  very 
day  of  his  installation  was  offered  the  bishopric  of 
Exeter. 

Robert  Bickersteth,  the  youngest  of  the  Kirkby 
Lonsdale  family,  was  the  only  one  who  remained 
in  his  father's  profession,  and  became  a  surgeon  at 
Liverpool.  He  was  distinguished  in  religious  and 
philanthropic  work,  no  less  than  in  his  medical 
profession. 

John  Bickersteth,  my  grandfather,  was  the  second 
son ;  and  his  sons  were,  Henry,  who,  in  the  course 
of  a  long  residence  as  a  medical  man  at  the  Cape 
of  Good  Hope,  earned  the  gratitude  of  churchmen 
by  his  devotion  to  the  interests  of  the  Church  of 
England  in  that  colony ;  Edward,  now  Dean  of 
Lichfield,  who  was  for  many  years  Archdeacon 
of  Buckinghamshire,  Vicar  of  Aylesbury,  and  Pro- 
locutor of  the  Lower  House  of  the  Convocation 
of  Canterbury ;  and  the  subject  of  this  sketch, 
Robert,  Bishop  of  Ripon. 

If  the  Vicar  of  Acton  occupied  a  position  of 
comparative  obscurity,  yet  his  work  was  of  a  very 
remarkable  character  ;  and  it  will  not  be  without 
interest  to  some  readers  to  dwell  for  a  space  on  the 
uneventful  life  of  a  country  clergyman  in  the  first 
half  of  the  present  century. 

Several  modern  biographies,  and  especially  Mr. 


REV.   JOHN  BICKERSTETH. 


Mozley's  Reminiscences,  give  a  graphic  picture  of 
the  time  when  the  Oxford  Tracts  were  first  launched 
upon  the  world,  and  startled  the  slumber  of  many 
a  quiet  parsonage  with  the  perplexing  rush  of  ideas 
at  once  new  and  old. 

But  it  would  be  a  great  mistake  to  suppose  that 
till  the  Tractarian  Movement,  there  was  nothing  to 
break  the  deep  sleep  in  which  the  Church  had  lain 
all  through  the  Georgian  era.  The  burning  love  of 
souls  and  the  fiery  energy  of  the  Methodist  Revival 
found  an  echo  within  the  Church,  and  there  were 
those  who  combined  the  fervour  and  piety  of  the 
Wesleys  with  a  spirit  of  sober  loyalty  to  Church 
order,  the  lack  of  which  had  turned  a  powerful 
auxiliary  of  the  Church  into  a  sect  separate  from 
her.  These  were  the  men  who  formed  the  Bible 
Society,  who  supported  Missions  to  the  Jews,  and, 
with  Wilberforce  and  Clarkson,  stormed  against  the 
slave-trade  till  the  conscience  of  the  nation  was 
aroused  to  roll  away  that  terrible  reproach  to 
England  and  Christendom. 

Such  a  man  was  John  Bickersteth,  of  Acton. 
Like  his  younger  brother,  he  had  left  Kirkby  Lons- 
dale  for  a  clerkship  in  the  Post  Office,  but,  not  con- 
tent with  any  calling  lower  than  what  he  deemed 
the  highest,  took  Holy  Orders. 

The  Rev.  John  Bickersteth  was  a  young  man 
when  he  went  to  Acton  in  1812,  and  his  ministry 
there  lasted  till  1837. 

What  the  life  at  Acton  was  like,  we  are  able 
to  picture  vividly  enough  from  a  few  letters  which 
have  been  preserved,  and  from  the  recollections  of 
some  of  those  who  lived  at  the  vicarage  as  pupils 


8         LIFE   OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

of  Mr.  Bickersteth,  or  candidates  for  Holy  Orders 
who  spent  a  year  or  two  with  him  to  gain  an  insight 
into  parochial  work. 

At  Cambridge  John  Bickersteth  had  made  the 
acquaintance  of  the  Rev.  C.  Simeon,  whose  great 
influence  over  the  younger  members  of  the  Uni- 
versity made  itself  felt  long  before  his  name  became 
a  household  'word  throughout  the  Church.  The 
following  letter,  which  was  preserved  by  the  Rev. 
Canon  Carus  amongst  Mr.  Simeon's  correspond- 
ence, shows  how  strong  an  admiration  and  respect 
the  writer  had  for  the  great  Cambridge  leader  : — 

Dear  Sir, — Believe  me,  though  I  have  had  so  little 
opportunity  of  manifesting  it,  I  have  not  ceased  to  retain 
a  lively  gratitude  towards  you  for  all  your  undeserved 
kindnesses  to  me  during  my  residence  in  the  University, 
and  an  affectionate  interest  in  your  spiritual  and  temporal 
prosperity.  May  the  great  Head  of  the  Church  long 
continue  your  valuable  labours  for  the  good  of  His  people  ! 
I  think  you  will  pardon  the  freedom  of  my  writing  to  you 
upon  the  subject  of  one  dear  to  you,  and  dear  also  to  me  ; 
on  different  accounts,  and  yet  not  wholly  dissimilar.  You, 
dear  sir,  were,  I  believe,  under  God,  Mr.  Martyn's  spiritual 
father :  I  am  not  sure  whether,  under  God,  I  am  not  the 
same  Mr.  Martyn's  spiritual  son :  I  am  sure  that  his 
preaching,  which  most  providentially  I  had  the  happiness 
of  hearing,  just  before  he  left  England,  at  St.  John's  Chapel, 
was  the  means,  by  God's  grace,  of  strengthening  if  not 
establishing  impressions  still,  alas !  too  feebly  operative  in 
a  heart  not  yet  sufficiently  made  captive  in  every  thought 
to  the  obedience  of  Jesus  Christ.  Under  these  circum- 
stances, though  I  never  had  any  personal  knowledge  of 
Mr.  Martyn,  nor  could  have,  as  he  left  England  almost 
immediately  after  I  first  saw  and  heard  him,  yet,  feeling  a 
lively  regret  for  the  loss  which  the  Church  sustains  in  him, 


MRS.    JOHN  BICKERSTETH. 


and  desiring  to  contribute  my  mite  towards  the  promotion 
of  an  object  near  his  heart,  I,  in  common  with  a  London 
friend,  who  wishes  to  remain  unknown,  but  was  alike  a  par- 
taker of  the  benefit  of  his  public  labours,  beg  to  enclose 
two  guineas  (one  from  each  of  us),  which  we  doubt  not  you 
will  be  at  the  trouble  of  appropriating  to  the  right  channel. 
I  am  afraid  amidst  your  numerous  avocations  it  would  be 
too  much  to  hope  for  the  happiness  of  seeing  you  at  our 
humble  vicarage.  Permit  me,  however,  to  add  that  we 
should  consider  such  a  sight  of  you  so  great  a  happiness 
that  we  will  hope  you  would  not  neglect  a  favourable 
opportunity  of  gratifying  us  in  this  particular.  In  the 
mean  time  I  am  sure  we  shall  have  your  prayers,  which  I 
hope,  together  with  our  own,  and  those  of  other  Christian 
friends,  God  will  continue  to  bless  for  the  good  of  the  little 
but  dear  flock  which  God  my  Saviour  has  put  into  my 
hands.  I  feel  that  I  am  unworthy  of  being  His  under- 
shepherd  ;  but  if  He  guides,  directs,  and  blesses,  then  I  am 
safe.  Mrs.  Bickersteth  has  lately  presented  me  with  a  dear 
babe.  She  would  feel  herself  honoured  by  an  introduction 
to  your  acquaintance,  which  she  both  is  prepared  and 
knows  how  to  value. 

I  am,  dear  sir, 

Your  sincerely  obliged  and  grateful, 

JOHN  BICKERSTETH. 

Acton  Vicarage,  near  Sudbury, 
June  2,  1813. 

The  infant  to  whom  reference  is  made  in  the 
letter  was  Edward,  the  present  Dean  of  Lichfield  ; 
but  on  a  subsequent  occasion  Mr.  Simeon  visited 
Acton,  and  it  was  thought  a  matter  of  great  rejoicing 
in  the  family  that  he  consented  to  act  as  sponsor 
to  Robert,  the  future  Bishop  of  Ripon. 

The  Rev.  John  Bickersteth  had  married  Miss 
Henrietta  Lang,  who  seems  to  have  been  admirably 
fitted  for  the  position  of  a  clergyman's  wife.  After 


10       LIFE   OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

her  death  in  1830,  her  widowed  husband  published 
a  little  memoir,  which  shows  her  to  have  been  a 
very  remarkable  woman,  and  one  who  could  not 
fail  to  have  a  most  powerful  influence  upon  her 
children.  Before  her  marriage  she  had  passed 
through  a  change  in  her  religious  convictions,  which 
led  her  to  give  herself  almost  entirely  to  good  works 
amongst  the  poor  in  the  little  village  of  Natland, 
near  Kirkby  Lonsdale. 

At  Casterton  Hall,  where  she  was  a  frequent 
guest,  she  made  the  acquaintance  of  her  future 
husband,  who  had  just  commenced  his  work  at 
Acton. 

How  deeply  she  was  impressed  with  the  respon- 
sibility of  becoming  a  clergyman's  wife  is  shown 
in  a  letter  written  to  a  friend  before  her  marriage. 
She  writes  : — 

I  humbly  trust  I  did  not  presume  to  listen  to  the 
proposal  till  I  had  begged  the  blessing  and  guidance  of 
my  Heavenly  Master.  And  though  it  appears  to  be  His 
will  hitherto  to  sanction  the  step  I  am  about  to  take,  yet 
it  is  a  duty  still  to  pray  for  a  negative  to  any  plan  which 
will  not  promote  my  spiritual  progress.  By  the  assisting 
grace  of  God,  it  is  my  wish  unreservedly  to  surrender  all 
I  have  and  am  to  His  service  and  glory ;  and  I  can 
earnestly  pray  that  I  may  be  kept  from  anything  that 
would  interrupt  such  a  surrender.  I  am  in  some  measure 
sensible  of  my  present  temptation.  Oh,  implore  of  Him 
Who  hears  and  answers  prayer,  that  all  His  gifts  may  be 
sanctified  ;  that  the  streams  of  mercy  may  never  draw  me 
from  the  Fountain ;  and  that,  through  all  created  comfort, 
the  steady  eye  of  faith  may  be  fixed  on  the  Creator.  Acton 
is  a  retired  corner  of  the  vineyard  :  pray  for  its  minister 
that  he  may  be  endued  with  strength  from  on  high  equal 
to  his  day ;  and  especially  pray  for  her  who  must  so  soon 


THE  EVANGELICAL  MOVEMENT.  II 

share  his  labours.  Oh,  that  my  heart  may  be  carefully 
impressed  with  a  sense  of  the  responsibility  attached  to 
such  a  situation,  and  also  with  a  still  deeper  sense  of  God's 
distinguishing  mercy  and  my  own  unworthiness  ! 

Mrs.  John  Bickersteth  was  fitted  to  share  in 
her  husband's  work — not  only  because  of  her  deeply 
devotional  mind  and  the  simple  love  of  Christ,  which 
forms  the  strongest  bond  of  union  even  between 
those  who  have  learned  their  faith  in  different  schools, 
but  she,  like  her  husband,  had  imbibed  an  almost 
identical  form  of  Evangelical  piety,  long  before  their 
acquaintance  commenced. 

It  may  be  that  some  who  read  these  pages  will 
be  puzzled  to  know  exactly  what  is  meant  by  the 
constantly  recurring  phrases  that  belong  to  the  early 
period  of  the  Evangelical  Movement. 

Religious  phrases  are  so  apt  to  mislead,  and  so 
soon  lose  their  value,  if  they  become  the  watchwords 
of  a  party  instead  of  the  natural  utterances  of  those 
who  feel  them,  that  a  word  of  caution  is  needed  to 
explain  their  use. 

If  good  people  talked  and  wrote  to-day  in  the 
language  in  which  their  grandfathers  expressed 
themselves  seventy  or  eighty  years  ago,  the  world 
would  not  be  very  far  wrong  in  bidding  them  beware 
of  cant ;  but  in  those  days  it  was  natural  enough  for 
them  to  talk  as  they  felt,  and  there  is  no  question 
that  in  such  a  home  as  the  vicarage  at  Acton,  the 
inmates  felt  as  strongly  as  they  spoke  of  the  great 
need  of  an  entire  separation  between  Christ's  people 
and  the  world. 

It  was  a  very  different  thing  fifty  years  later, 
when  the  Evangelical  party  had  become  powerful 


12        LIFE    OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

and  wealthy ;  and  it  was  high  time  for  Charles 
Kingsley  to  warn  us  that  the  religious  world  might 
be  at  least  as  worldly,  as  full  of  envy,  hatred,  and 
malice,  and  all  uncharitableness,  as  the  other  world 
which  it  professed  to  shun. 

But  the  few  clergy  who  called  themselves 
Evangelicals  at  the  beginning  of  the  century  were 
certainly  not  taking  the  popular  course. 

Their  clerical  neighbours  were  not  in  a  position 
to  rebuke  them  for  neglected  duties  and  defective 
loyalty  to  the  Church,  for  there  was  hardly  one  of 
the  old  High  Church  party  who  made  any  attempt 
to  carry  out  the  Prayer-book  scheme  with  the  dili- 
gence that  is  now  happily  so  common.  And  the 
laity — squires,  farmers,  and  labourers  alike — had  been 
so  long  familiar  with  an  easy  compromise  between 
the  claims  of  this  world  and  the  next,  that  a  clergy- 
man who  boldly  rebuked  vice,  and  spoke  of  Sin  and 
Hell  as  great  realities,  could  hardly  escape  some 
measure  of  unpopularity  and  opposition. 

In  trying  to  show  what  the  home  life  at  Acton 
was  like,  I  make  no  apology  for  borrowing  largely 
from  the  memoir  of  Mrs.  Bickersteth,  to  which 
allusion  has  already  been  made.  Her  husband  says 
of  her— 

In  her  ardent  thirst  for  spiritual  knowledge,  and  in 
that  devotional  spirit  with  which  she  was  so  eminently 
blessed,  will  be  found  the  mainspring  which  guided  and 
regulated  the  movements  of  her  active  and  industrious  life. 
What  delight  she  took  in,  and  how  unremitting  was  her 
study  of,  the  Word  of  God  !  Besides  chapters  and  portions 
daily  read,  morning  and  evening,  with  her  husband,  children, 
and  servants,  and  in  the  constant  routine  of  the  family 
worship  ;  besides  what  she  read  occasionally  in  her  visits 


STRICT  RELIGIOUS  LIFE. 


amongst  the  poor,  and  statedly  twice  in  the  week  when 
she  assembled  around  her,  in  her  own  house,  those  of  her 
own  sex  who  chose  to  attend, — every  day,  and  twice,  at 
least,  in  the  day  for  herself,  and  solely  upon  her  own 
account,  she  was  an  accurate,  diligent,  and  prayerful  Bible 
student. 

Then  follows  a  list  of  devotional  books  which 
were  in  constant  use.  Amongst  them  were  "  Jenks' 
Prayers,"  "Thomas  a  Kempis,"  Adam's  "  Private 
Thoughts,"  Bishop  Taylor's  "  Holy  Living  and 
Holy  Dying,"  with  the  devotional  expositions  of 
her  brother-in-law,  and  Bridges  on  Psalm  cxix. 

"  In  her,"  says  her  husband,  "  the  flame  of  devotion,  like 
the  fire  upon  the  altar,  never,  went  out ;  it  pervaded  and 
sanctified  all  she  attempted,  said,  or  did.  Even  in  her  little 
account  books,  which  were  most  methodically  arranged, 
and  kept  with  scrupulous  exactness,  may  be  discovered 
traces  of  the  same  devotional  spirit.  In  that  for  the  opening 
current  year  was  transcribed,  by  her  own  hand,  within  the 
cover,  Agur's  beautiful  prayer,  '  Give  me  neither  poverty 
nor  riches/  etc.  (Prov.  xxx.  8,  9),  and,  just  beneath  it,  the 
important  Apostolic  aphorism,  '  Godliness  with  content- 
ment is  great  gain.' " 

Next  in  the  memoir  come  two  forms  of  self- 
examination,  and  some  "  Rules  of  Daily  Use,"  which 
were  constantly  employed.  It  may  interest  the 
reader  to  see  them,  and  they  are  noticeable  for  this 
reason  :  It  is  often  supposed  that  the  tendency  of 
"  Evangelical  principles  "  was  rather  to  make  light 
of  Manuals  of  Devotion  and  strict  habits  in  the 
religious  life.  It  has  been  the  fashion  to  contrast 
the  strict  rules  of  life,  the  minute  self-examination, 
and  the  rigorous  insistence  on  such  matters  as  fasting 


14       LIFE   OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

and  the  sterner  side  of  religious  discipline,  with  a 
supposed  laxity  in  those  who  are  called  Evangelical. 

Certainly  there  is  no  ground  for  this  comparison  in 
the  glimpse  of  a  spiritual  life  which  this  memoir  gives. 

The  forms  of  self-examination  could  only  have 
been  drawn  up  by  one  who  had  a  very  definite  view 
of  the  meaning  of  holiness,  and  who  was  prepared 
to  seek  it  by  a  life  of  strict  self-discipline. 

An  attentive  reader  will  notice  that  they  differ 
from  most  modern  forms,  because  they  are  based  on 
holiness,  rather  than  on  sin.  That  is  to  say,  the 
soul  is  taught  to  inquire  and  accuse  itself,  rather  for 
the  neglect  of  grace  given  and  privileges  bestowed, 
than  for  the  faults  which  may  have  been  committed. 

But  others  will,  perhaps,  like  to  see  these  forms 
for  the  same  reason  which  makes  them  precious  to 
the  writer.  The  memoir  of  his  mother  was  the 
only  book,  except  the  Bible,  which  my  father  con- 
stantly used  in  his  own  devotions,  and  the  little 
book  from  which  this  copy  is  taken  is  soiled,  and 
its  pages  almost  worn  through  with  constant  use. 

SELF-EXAMINATION.— No.  i. 

1.  Did   I  awake  as  with  God  this  morning,  and   rise 
with  a  grateful   sense  of  His  goodness  ?     How  were  the 
secret  devotions  of  the  morning  performed  ?     Did  I  offer 
my  solemn  praises,  and  renew  the  dedication  of  myself  to 
God  with  becoming  attention  and  suitable  affections  ? 

2.  Did  I  lay  my  scheme  for  the  business  of  the  day 
wisely  and  well  ?     How  did  I  read  the  Scripture,  and  any 
other  devotional  book,  or  practical  one?     Did  it  do  my 
heart  good,  or  was  it  mere  amusement?     How  have  the 
other  stated  devotions  of  the  day  been  performed,  whether 
secret,  family,  or  public  ? 


SEL  F-EXA  MINA  TION.  1 5 

3.  Have   I  pursued  the  common  business  of  the  day 
with  diligence  and  spirituality  of  mind,  doing  everything 
in  season,  and  with  all  convenient  dispatch,  as  unto  the 
Lord  ?     What  time  have  I  lost  this  day  in  the  morning, 
or  at  noon-day,  or  in  the  evening  ?  and  what  occasioned 
this  loss  ?     With  what  temper,  and  under  what  regulations 
have  the  recreations  of  this  day  been  pursued  ? 

4.  Have  I  seen  the  hand  of  God  in  my  mercies,  in  my 
health,  cheerfulness,  food,  journeys,  clothing,  books,  preser- 
vation, success  in  my  avocations,  kindness  of  friends,  con- 
versation, etc.  ? 

5.  Have  I  seen  the  hand  of  God  in   afflictions  ?  and, 
very  particularly,  in  little  things  which  had  a  tendency  to 
vex  and  disquiet  me  ?    And,  with  regard  to  this  interposi- 
tion, have   I   received    my   comforts   thankfully,  and    my 
afflictions  submissively  ?    How  have  I  guarded  against  the 
temptations  of  the  day,  particularly  against  this,  or  that, 
temptation,  which  I  foresaw  in  the  morning  ? 

6.  Have  I  maintained  an  humble  dependence  on  divine 
influences  ?    Have  I  lived  by  faith  on  the  Son  of  God,  and 
regarded  Jesus  Christ  as  my  Teacher  and  Governor,  my 
Atonement  and  Intercessor,  my  Example  and  Guardian,  my 
Strength  and  Forerunner  ?    Have  I  been  looking  forward 
this  day,  to  death,  and  judgment,  and  eternity,  and  con- 
sidered myself  as  a  probationer  for  Heaven,  and,  through 
grace,  an  expectant  of  it  ? 

7.  Have  I  governed  my  thoughts  well,  especially  in  my 
intervals  of  solitude  ? 

8.  How  was  my  subject  of  thought  chosen  for  to-day, 
and  how  has  it  been  regarded  ?     Have  I  governed  my  dis- 
course wisely  and  piously  in  such  and  such  company  ?    Did 
I  say  nothing  passionate,  mischievous,  slanderous,  impru- 
dent, or  impertinent  ? 

9.  Has  my  heart  been  full  of  love  to  God  this  day  ? 
and  to  all  mankind  ?  and  have  I  sought,  and  found,  and 
improved  opportunities  of  doing  and  getting  good  ?     With 
what  attention  have  I  read  the  Scriptures  this  day  ?     How 
was  self-examination  performed  the  last  night?  and  how 


1 6       LIFE   OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

have  I  profited  this  day  by  any  remarks  I  then  made  on 
former  negligences  and  mistakes  ? 

SELF-EXAMINATION. — No.  2. 

1.  Do  I  walk  by  faith  in   an  unseen  world,  Saviour, 
Eternity  ? 

2.  Do  I  love  God,  trying  always  to  please,  and  fearing 
to  offend  Him  ?     Desiring  to  draw  near  to,  and  longing 
to  enjoy  Him  ? 

3.  What  end  do  I  propose  to  myself  in  my  pursuits, 
endeavours,  and  studies?     Is  it  the  glory  of  God  (i  Cor. 
x.  31)? 

4.  How  are  the  Scriptures  heard  and  read  ?    Do  I  desire 
and  pray  for  spiritual  knowledge  ? 

5.  Of  what  sort  are  my  prayers  ?     Do  I  watch,  strive, 
and  pray  against  distractions  and  wanderings  in  prayer, 
against  coldness,  deadness,  dulness,  formality,  etc.  ?  or  do 
my  tempers,  words,  and  actions  contradict  my  prayers  ? 

6.  Do  I  daily  call  myself  to  account  for  my  daily  sins, 
humbling  myself  before  God  with  a  broken  and  a  contrite 
heart,  seeking,  through  Jesus,  pardon  and  peace,  and  not 
allowing  myself  in  any  known  sin  ? 

7.  Do  I  love  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  sincerity  ? 

8.  How  is  my  heart  kept  ?    Have  I  found  out  my  beset- 
ting sin,  and  placed  the  curb  on  that  in  particular  ?     Do  I 
aim  at  heart  purity,  and  freedom  from  inward,  secret  sins  ? 

9.  Do  I  eat  and  drink  to  the  glory  of  God,  and  practise 
daily  self-denial  in  governing  and  restraining  my  appetites 
and  passions  ? 

10.  Do  I  keep  an  eye  to  the  standard,  "Love  God  with 
all  thy  heart,"  and  "  Love  thy  neighbour  as  thyself"  ? 

11.  Am  I  hasty  or  rash  in  judging  any?     Do  I  despise 
or  slight  any  on  account  of  natural  defects  or  infirmities  ? 
Do  I  abstain  from  uncharitable  and  unkind  looks,  thoughts, 
words  ?     Am  I  quick  to  see,  willing  to  own,  and  anxious  to 
undo,  as  far  as  may  be,  what  has  been  done  amiss  ? 

12.  Do  I  pray  for,  and  desire  the  spiritual  good  of  all. 


BORN  AT  ACTON,    1816.  I  7 

doing  what  in  me  lies  to  promote  it  by  my  consistent 
example  and  patient,  persevering  endeavours  ?  Do  I  ear- 
nestly desire  the  spread  of  the  Gospel,  and  the  success  of 
its  ministers  ?  And  do  I  cherish  the  sanctifying  influences 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  for  my  own  growth  and  fruitfulness  in 
grace  ? 

RULES  OF  DAILY  USE. 

I.  Begin  with  God.  Never  neglect  to  make  prayer 
first.  Should  anything  unforeseen  occur  to  shorten,  yet 
upon  no  account,  and  for  no  pretence,  omit  the  duty. 
Though  short,  be  devout,  earnest,  serious.  Be  this  your 
motto,  "  Begin  with  God  "  (Ps.  v.  3). 

2.  Expect  trials,  and  to  have  your  own  will  often  thwarted. 
Seek  strength  for  the  day  of  trial,  and  grace  for  the  duty  of 
that  day  (Deut.  xxxiii.  25). 

3.  Watch  occasions  of  good,  to  improve,  and  of  evil,  to 
shun  them  (Rom.  xii.  9). 

4.  Make  the  best  of  that  which  looks  ill,  and  let  not  the 
sins  of  others  provoke  you  to  sin. 

5.  Be  not  weary  of  well-doing  (Gal.  vi.  9),  nor  cease 
from  striving  against  sin  (Heb.  xii.  4). 

Enough  has  been  quoted  to  show  the  character 
of  the  mother  whose  influence  left  such  a  permanent 
impression  upon  my  father's  whole  after-life,  and  the 
little  volume  with  its  evident  traces  of  incessant  use, 
is  a  sufficient  record  for  those  who  loved  him  of  that 
inner  life  which  is  hid  with  Christ  in  God. 

But  I  cannot  forbear  to  add  an  extract  from 
the  blank  leaf  of  his  mother's  Testament,  which  has 
a  special  interest  after  seventy  years,  when  one  feels 
that  its  prayer  has  been  fulfilled. 

The  extract  is  dated  August  24,  1816,  and  that 
is  the  day  on  which  Robert,  the  fourth  son  of  John 

c 


1 8        LIFE   OF  BISHOP   ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

and  Henrietta  Bickersteth,  was  born.     It  is  written 
in  pencil  in  the  mother's  hand  :— 

Again  I  have  received  richly  the  support  and  mercy  of 
my  Lord.  O  bind  my  heart  -and  future  life  to  Thee  and 
to  Thy  service  for  ever!  Sanctify  this  Thy  new  and 
precious  gift  to  us  ;  teach  us,  that  we  may  be  enabled 
through  Thy  grace  to  train  our  child  in  the  way  wherein 
it  ought  to  go.  O  adopt  it,  blessed  Jesus,  into  Thy  family 
on  earth;  and  may  it  be  partaker  of  eternal  glory  hereafter! 
Amen. 

And  the  father  adds  when,  fifteen  years  after- 
wards, the  mother  has  passed  away— 

May  this  striking  recognition  of  a  mother's  gratitude, 
and  memorial  of  affectionate  interest  in,  and  thoughts  for 
his  welfare  in  the  season  of  his  own  unconscious  infancy, 
be  imprinted  on  the  youthful  breast  of  him  who  is  most 
concerned,  as  with  an  iron  pen  and  an  indelible  mark !  and 
may  the  solemn  charge,  "  Be  faithful  unto  death," 1  also 
appended  to  this  document  by  the  same  hand,  be  as  a 
talisman  to  guard  him  from  the  sins  of  unfaithfulness,  that 
none  such  may  cleave  unto  him,  and  as  his  never-to-be 
obliterated  watchword  in  every  hour  of  trial  or  peril ! 

1  In  1857  my  father  adopted  the  words  "  Esto  Fidelis"  as  his  motto,  in 
place  of  "  Frappe  Fort,"  which  had  been  borne  by  his  family. 


CHAPTER    II. 

BOYHOOD    AT  ACTON. 

The  parish  of  Acton — Pupils  at  the  vicarage — Dean  Alford,  Bishop 
Pelham,  etc. — Recollections  of  the  latter — A  model  parish — Large 
numbers  of  communicants — Strict  churchmanship  of  the  older 
Evangelicals— Robert  Bickersteth  as  a  boy — His  early  talent  for 
surgery — Portrait  of  a  true  parish  priest — Evangelical,  but  not 
Low  Church. 

THE  village  of  Acton  stands  in  a  purely  agricultural 
district  of  Suffolk,  about  three  miles  from  Sudbury. 
The  old  church  is  mentioned  in  Domesday  Book, 
and  part  of  the  present  structure  dates  from  the 
eleventh  century.  It  is  now  sorely  in  need  of 
the  repairs  which  have  just  been  commenced  by  the 
present  vicar,  the  Rev.  Arundel  Leaky,  and  there 
is  good  hope  that  the  restoration  will  be  completed 
in  such  a  way  as  to  preserve  several  interesting  relics. 

There  is  in  the  church  a  fine  brass  of  one  Roger 
de  Brues,  a  crusader,  which  is  said  to  be  one  of  the 
oldest  and  best  in  England.  However,  the  antiqui- 
ties with  which  we  are  concerned  date  no  further 
back  than  1812,  when  the  Rev.  John  Bickersteth 
was  appointed  to  the  living  by  Lady  Howe. 

The  parish  contains  several  outlying  hamlets, 
and  there  is  but  one  gentleman's  house,  called 
Acton  Place ;  so  the  vicarage,  which  was  unfortu- 


20       LIFE    OF  BISHOP   ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

nately  placed  nearly  half  a  mile  distant  from  the 
church,  was  necessarily  the  centre  of  charitable  and 
medical  relief,  no  less  than  of  directly  spiritual 
influence. 

What  the  home  life  was  like  at  Acton,  appears 
from  a  Journal  which  my  father  kept  in  his  thir- 
teenth year,  and  from  the  recollections  of  some  of 
the  pupils  who  lived  beneath  his  father's  roof. 

His  parents  enjoyed  eighteen  years  of  unbroken 
happiness  in  their  married  life.  One  child  died  in 
infancy,  but  on  the  mother's  death  in  1830,  four 
sons  and  three  daughters  survived.  At  the  time 
of  his  mother's  death,  Robert  was  fourteen  years 
old,  but  as  he  was  evidently  much  older  than  his 
years,  it  is  not  surprising  that  his  mother's  in- 
fluence should  have  left  so  deep  an  impression. 
In  after-years  he  remembered  a  conversation 
which  he  had  with  her  only  a  week  before  her 
death,  in  which  she  said,  "  I  should  die  happily  if 
I  knew  that  you  were  to  be  a  clergyman." 

It  is  evident  from  the  Journal  that  his  thoughts 
had  been  already  turned  in  this  direction.  Each 
day  there  is  the  record  of  large  portions  of  the 
Bible  read,  and  there  are  elaborate  notes  of  his 
father's  sermons,  of  which  the  texts  were  noted  each 
week.  Besides  this,  he  was  already  his  father's 
constant  companion  in  pastoral  visitation,  so  he 
was  initiated  at  only  thirteen  years  of  age  into  all 
the  fascinating  interests  of  the  life  of  an  active 
parish  priest.  But  there  is  nothing  morbid  or 
unlike  the  healthy  instincts  of  a  light-hearted  boy. 
Side  by  side  with  the  sick  visiting  and  the  cate- 
chising of  his  class  in  the  Sunday  school,  are  the 


PUPILS  AT  ACTON   VICARAGE.  21 

records  of  bathing  in  the  Stour,  rides  on  his  pony, 
fishing,  sliding,  and  all  sorts  of  country  pleasures 
which  he  shared  with  his  brothers  and  his  father's 
pupils.1 

Amongst  the  pupils  who  were  from  time  to  time 
inmates  of  his  father's  house,  were  Lord  Thomas 
Hay,  Francis  and  John,  two  sons  of  Lord  Grey  (the 
Lord  Grey  of  the  first  Reform  Bill),  Henry  Alford, 
afterwards  Dean  of  Canterbury,  Bishop  Pelham  of 
Norwich,  and  Lawrence  Ottley,  who  married  Miss 
Elisabeth  Bickersteth.  The  latter  succeeded  his 
father-in-law  as  Vicar  of  Acton,  became  Rector  of 
Richmond,  Yorkshire,  and  Canon  Residentiary  of 
Ripon.  The  Rev.  John  Bickersteth  was  an  old- 
fashioned  classical  scholar,  and  thus  his  children,  who 
never  went  to  a  public  school,  shared  with  his  pupils 
the  opportunity  of  gaining  a  good  education. 

But  the  great  feature  of  the  home  at  Acton  was 
the  prominent  place  given  to  religious  duties,  and 
the  incessant  effort  of  the  vicar  to  frame  and  fashion 
the  family  life  according  to  the  doctrine  of  Christ, 
and  to  make  both  himself  and  his,  as  much  as  in 
him  lay,  wholesome  examples  of  the  flock  of  Christ. 

For  a  further  sketch  of  Acton,  I  am  indebted 
to  Bishop  Pelham  of  Norwich,  who  allowed  me  to 
take  down  the  reminiscences  that  occurred  to  him 
after  an  interval  of  fifty  years. 

Bishop  Pelham  has  a  vivid  recollection  of  the 
two  years  he  spent  at  Acton  Vicarage,  from  Novem- 
ber, 1832,  to  October,  1834.  He  had  just  taken  his 
degree,  and  was  recommended  to  spend  the  interval 

1  There  is  a  brief  entry  in  Dean  Alford's  Life  which  refers  to  one  of  their 
bathing  expeditions  : — "  Saved  Robert's  life  while  bathing  in  the  Stour." 


22       LIFE    OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

before  receiving  Holy  Orders  in  getting  some  in- 
sight into  parochial  work. 

Amongst  other  clergymen  to  whom  his  father 
applied,  was  the  Rev.  John  Bickersteth.  At  that  time 
my  grandfather  had  given  up  taking  pupils,  and 
was  reluctant  to  begin  again.  However,  Mr.  Pelham 
was  invited  to  spend  two  or  three  days  at  Acton, 
and  on  the  first  night  of  his  visit  he  was  so  much 
struck  by  the  piety  and  simplicity  of  the  house- 
hold, and  by  the  kindness  of  his  reception,  that  he 
registered  a  vow,  that  if  God  would  allow  him 
to  go  to  Acton,  he  should  esteem  it  among  his 
greatest  blessings.  The  vicar's  scruples  were  over- 
come, and  Mr.  Pelham  was  for  two  years  an  inmate 
of  the  vicarage.  Mr.  Bickersteth  allowed  Mr.  Pel- 
ham  the  use  of  his  library,  and  constantly  took 
him  on  his  daily  round  of  pastoral  visitation,  and 
to  the  three  cottage  lectures  which  were  held  weekly 
in  the  outlying  hamlets  of  the  parish. 

Mr.  Pelham  esteemed  this  as  a  very  valuable 
opportunity,  and  still  looks  back  upon  Acton  as  a 
wonderful  parish. 

He  remembers  several  points  in  illustration  of 
this.  First,  there  was  the  average  attendance  of 
ninety  at  the  monthly  Communion,  out  of  a  parish 
of  six  hundred,  and  this  in  spite  of  the  fact  that 
the  farmers  were  at  first,  at  any  rate,  hostile  or 
indifferent  to  the  teaching  of  the  vicar,  and,  with 
the  exception  of  the  family  at  Acton  Place,  the 
communicants  were  all  of  the  labouring  class.  One 
proof  of  the  hold  which  religion  had  upon  the 
hearts  of  the  parishioners  was,  that  it  was  quite 
the  exception  when  a  household  had  not  morning 


A   MODEL   PARISH. 


and  evening  family  prayer.  A  card  of  prayers 
used  to  hang  up  in  each  cottage,  and  in  his  pastoral 
visits  the  vicar  would  notice  whether  it  had  been 
duly  used  on  the  previous  morning  or  evening. 

Mr.  Bickersteth's  teaching  was  very  accurate 
and  thorough.  Each  Sunday  in  Lent,  and  on  the 
first  Sunday  in  the  month  throughout  the  year, 
there  was  public  catechising  in  church,  and  on 
these  occasions  the  church,  always  full,  was  crowded 
with  the  parents  and  others,  anxious  to  hear  their 
children's  answers.  Each  child  was  thoroughly 
grounded  in  the  Church  Catechism,  which  formed 
the  basis  of  all  his  teaching  ;  and,  in  addition  to  this, 
there  were  three  little  Catechisms  compiled  by  Mr. 
Bickersteth  on  Baptism,  Confirmation,  and  Holy 
Communion,  which  all  the  Acton  children  were 
made  to  learn  by  heart.  Mr.  Bickersteth  always 
insisted  on  the  children  giving  the  exact  words  of 
the  answers  for  the  sake  of  the  older  people,  and 
when  the  correct  answer  was  given,  he  had  great 
skill  in  eliciting  the  children's  knowledge  of  the 
sense.  Of  my  grandfather's  accurate  teaching  and 
strict  churchmanship  there  is  more  to  say  by-and- 
bye,  but  I  continue  Bishop  Pelham's  recollections  as 
they  come. 

At  that  time  Edward  was  at  Cambridge,  so 
Robert,  then  a  boy  of  sixteen,  was  Mr.  Pelham's 
usual  companion.  He  remembers  his  eager  interest 
and  enthusiasm  in  all  kinds  of  subjects,  and  especially 
his  early  love  of  surgery.  Though  he  was  only 
sixteen,  Master  Robert  was  often  sent  for  as  the 
village  doctor,  and  many  of  the  poor  people  pre- 
ferred him  to  any  other  practitioner.  He  had  a 


24        LIFE    OF  BISHOP   ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

sympathetic  power  and  skill  which  were  quite 
remarkable.  An  instance  of  this  occurred  in  the 

case  of  an  old  man  named  J E .  He  had 

been  ailing  for  some  time,  and  was  constantly 
visited  by  the  family  at  the  vicarage.  One  evening 
Robert  came  home  and  told  his  father  that  he 

believed  E was  suffering  from  an  acute  disease 

requiring  an  immediate  operation. 

His  father,  who  had  some  knowledge  of  surgery, 
went  to  the  cottage  at  once,  and  sent  for  the  surgeon 
at  Long  Melford,  a  man  of  great  ability  and  repute. 
The  doctor  came,  but  did  not  admit  the  gravity  of 
the  case,  and,  promising  to  send  some  medicine, 
went  home. 

About  midnight,  J E was  worse,  and 

again  sent  for  Master  Robert,  who  persisted  in  his 
former  opinion.  He  obtained  leave  from  his  father, 
and  set  off  in  the  pony  carriage  to  fetch  the  doctor. 
He  came,  was  much  surprised  at  the  development 
of  the  malady,  and  was  forced  to  exclaim,  "  The 
boy  is  right!"  Robert  was  sent  off  at  once  to 
Sudbury  for  another  surgeon,  and  the  operation 
was  performed  ;  but  both  surgeons  were  very  much 
impressed  by  the  skilful  diagnosis  of  the  boy.  It 
seems  he  had  acquired  all  the  information  on 
medical  subjects  within  his  reach  from  encyclo- 
paedias, etc. 

In  connection  with  the  services  in  Acton  Church, 
the  Bishop  remembers  how  in  the  Communion 
service,  in  the  midst  of  the  deep  solemnity  which 
always  prevailed,  Mr.  Bickersteth,  who  had  a  beau- 
tiful tenor  voice,  would  begin  very  softly  to  sing 
the  words  "  Therefore  with  angels,"  and  the  Sanctus 


BIS  PI  OP  PELHAM'S  RECOLLECTIONS.  2$ 

was  taken  up  by  the  whole  congregation.  This  was 
a  long  while  before  the  era  of  choral  Celebrations. 

Mr.  Bickersteth  was  very  scrupulous  about  the 
church,  and  would  never  suffer  a  speck  of  dust  to 
be  seen  in  the  building.  On  Wednesday  afternoon 
it  was  Robert's  duty  to  see  that  the  lamps  had 
been  made  bright,  and  that  everything  was  in  good 
order  for  the  weekly  lecture,  and  he  was  usually  the 
organist. 

It  was  this  training  which  made  him  in  after- 
life so  exceedingly  particular  that  there  should  be 
nothing  slovenly  or  untidy  in  the  House  of  God. 

I  am  also  indebted  to  Bishop  Pelham  for  an 
amusing  illustration  of  the  feelings  of  reverence  and 
affection  with  which  the  parishioners  of  Acton  re- 
garded their  vicar.  The  time  came  for  his  removal 
from  Acton,  after  a  ministry  of  twenty-five  years 
among  them,  and  there  was  a  dispute  amongst  the 
farmers  as  to  which  should  have  the  honour  of 
conveying  his  furniture  and  books  into  Leicester- 
shire. Somewhat  to  his  annoyance,  all  refused  to 
let  him  hire,  and  at  last  it  was  arranged  that  two 
farmers  should  supply  the  necessary  waggons  and 
horses  to  convey  his  effects  to  Sapcote,  free  of 
charge. 

Mr.  Pelham  spent  a  Sunday  in  Acton  soon  after 
Mr.  Bickersteth  had  left.  It  so  happened  that  he 
was  delayed  by  sickness  on  the  road  to  London, 
and,  being  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Acton,  was 
compelled  by  the  people,  ill  as  he  was,  to  come  over 
and  preach.  He  was  led  to  give  out  the  same  text 
that  Mr.  Bickersteth  had  chosen  for  his  farewell 
sermon,  and  no  sooner  had  he  uttered  it,  than  he 


26        LIFE    OF  BISHOP   ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

found  he  had  touched  a  chord  which  strangely 
moved  the  congregation. 

As  he  went  about  the  parish  afterwards,  even 
the  roughest  lads  and  the  least  religious  people 
welcomed  him  warmly  as  "  one  of  Mr.  Bickersteth's 
gentlemen,"  and  so  a  link  with  the  happy  past. 

Bishop  Pelham  tells  a  touching  story  of  a  visit 
which  he  paid  on  that  occasion  to  an  old  woman, 
who,  though  a  very  pious  person,  often  suffered  from 
great  depression.  He  was  surprised  to  find  her 
quite  happy,  while  nearly  every  one  else  in  the  parish 
seemed  cast  down  by  the  recent  separation.  He 
inquired  the  reason  of  the  contrast,  and  she  replied, 
"  Well,  sir,  you  see  when  I  had  been  to  the  Table  and 
to  sermon,  and  came  back  happy  in  my  mind,  I  used 
sometimes  to  think  my  religion  was  all  Mr.  Bicker- 
steth  ;  and  now  he  is  gone,  I  know  it  is  all  Christ." 
The  scaffold  was  removed,  but  the  edifice  remained. 

These  are  happy  recollections  which  are  likely 
enough  to  find  a  parallel  in  the  simple  annals  of 
many  another  country  parish,  but  they  may  possibly 
interest  some  of  those  who  loved  my  father,  and 
help  them  to  see  how  the  early  training  influenced 
his  whole  after-life. 

Surely  there  is  a  reminiscence  of  Acton  days 
and  a  half-unconscious  portrait  of  his  father  in  this 
passage  from  his  Charge  to  the  clergy  of  the 
diocese  of  Ripon,  delivered  in  1873  :— 

The  influence  which  a  clergyman  may  exert  for  good 
is  beyond  the  power  of  utterance.  .  .  .  Let  him  be  a  man 
of  intellectual  culture  and  refinement,  fitted  by  taste  and 
habit  and  previous  education  for  the  work  of  the  ministry ; 
let  him  be  possessed  of  those  higher  qualifications  which 


EVANGELICAL,   NOT  LOW  CHURCH.  2J 

no  mere  human  training  can  impart ;  let  him  be  an  able 
minister  of  the  New  Testament,  a  man  of  faith,  a  man  of 
prayer,  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  under  the  all-constraining 
influence  of  the  love  of  Christ,  and  one  who  yearns  for  the 
souls  for  whom  Christ  shed  His  Blood;  let  him  exemplify  in 
life  and  conversation  the  Gospel  which  he  has  been  set 
apart  to  proclaim  ;  and  let  it  be  evident  to  every  beholder 
that  he  is  a  man  whose  settled  purpose  it  is  to  live  to  the 
glory  of  God,  and  to  commend  to  others  the  religion  which 
has  brought  peace  and  comfort  to  his  own  soul ;  let  him  be 
diligent  in  the  discharge  of  the  varied  duties  of  his  sacred 
calling,  a  faithful  dispenser  of  the  Word  of  God  and  of 
His  Holy  Sacraments,  a  watcher  for  souls  as  one  that  must 
give  account,  a  true  pastor  to  whom  his  parishioners  may 
at  all  times  turn  for  advice,  instruction,  or  sympathy,  as 
their  several  needs  require ;  and  lives  there,  I  ask,  a  man 
from  whom  a  more  blessed,  a  more  hallowed,  or  a  more 
potent  influence  for  good  may  be  expected  to  emanate 
than  such  a  parochial  clergyman  ?  You  have  but  to 
imagine  the  whole  country  subdivided  into  such  parishes 
and  blessed  with  such  clergymen,  and  who  would  then  dare 
lift  up  his  hand  against  the  National  Church  ? 

This  is  probably  the  place  to  draw  a  distinction 
which  was  ever  present  to  my  father's  mind,  and 
which  he  doubtless  owed  to  the  example  of  his 
father.  He  gloried  in  the  title  of  Evangelical,  but 
he  always  repudiated  the  charge  of  being  a  Low 
Churchman.  And  certainly  no  one  can  attentively 
read  these  notices  of  Acton  or  some  of  the  later 
letters  of  my  grandfather  without  seeing  that  his 
Evangelical  principles  were  quite  consistent  with 
genuine  loyalty  to  the  Church. 

The  Church  Catechism  was  thoroughly  taught. 
The  whole  Liturgy  was  constantly  explained  in  the 
course  of  sermons  and  lectures,  and,  to  notice  a 


28       LIFE    OF  BISHOP   ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

trivial  but  significant  detail,  salt  fish  always  appeared 
upon  the  table  on  Fridays  and  Fast-days  throughout 
the  year. 

With  regard  to  daily  service,  the  Dean  of  Lich- 
field  remembers  that  at  one  time  his  father  felt  it 
right  to  obey  the  rubric,  and  read  the  morning 
prayers  in  Acton  Church.  He  did  not  long  con- 
tinue the  practice,  because  the  church  was  at  a  very 
inconvenient  distance  from  the  vicarage,  and,  indeed, 
from  the  bulk  of  the  parishioners ;  but  it  was  his 
habit  to  welcome  all  who  would  come  to  family 
prayers  in  his  own  house. 

On  the  question  of  Dissent,  or  rather,  of  union 
with  others  outside  the  Church,  my  grandfather  was 
a  stricter  churchman  than  his  brother  Edward  of 
Watton.  The  latter  took  a  prominent  part  in  con- 
nection with  the  Evangelical  Alliance,  but  my  grand- 
father, though  full  of  charity  to  all  who  loved  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  sincerity  and  truth,  felt  it 
inconsistent  to  join  in  public  worship  with  those  who 
caused  needless  division  in  the  Body  of  Christ. 

This  difference  between  them  comes  out  in  a 
letter  written  by  Edward  Bickersteth  to  his  brother 
John,  dated  October  31,  1810: — 

To  Christians  of  all  other  classes  (excepting  Socinians, 
Arians,  and  Pelagians),  who  love  the  Lord  with  sincerity,  I 
would  give  the  right  hand  of  fellowship,  however  they  may 
differ  in  non-essentials  ;  nor  should  I,  after  mature  con- 
sideration, hesitate  to  go  to  their  assemblies.  /  know  you 
differ  from  me  here,  ...  I  am  not,  therefore,  anxious  to  be 
exonerated  from  the  charge  of  Methodism,  nor  to  prove 
my  principles  by  the  Church  of  England. 

It  is   only   right  to   notice   that   the    letter  was 


REMOVAL   FROM  ACTON   TO  SAPCOTE.  29 

written  before  either  of  the  brothers  had  been 
ordained,  but  it  seems  to  indicate  a  certain  difference 
in  standpoint  which  both  of  them  maintained  in 
after-days. 

In  1837  my  grandfather  was  offered  the  living  of 
Sapcote,  in  Leicestershire.  This  was  not  altogether 
a  happy  change  from  Acton,  but,  since  his  wife's 
death,  Acton  could  never  be  the  same  as  in  the 
earlier  days,  when  he  had  seen  his  children  growing 
up  around  him,  and  his  parish  gradually  transformed 
under  the  influence  of  the  Gospel  which  he  preached. 

There  were  sundry  changes  made  in  the  manner 
of  conducting  service  at  Sapcote  which  gave  some 
offence  to  the  Chapel  party. 

In  a  letter  written  to  my  father  in  1838  my 
grandfather  says — 

We  are  all  alive  at  Sapcote,  and  as  we  have  begun 
catechising  in  the  church,  I  suppose  we  shall  soon  be 
imitated  in  this  also  by  the  chapel.  Alas  !  I  really  believe 
some  of  those  who  now  cry  out,  "  The  Chapel  in  danger ! " 
would  have  been  much  better  pleased  had  what  they  call 
"  the  Gospil "  never  come  to  the  church. 

In  another  letter  to  my  father  there  is  a  graphic 
description  of  the  opening  of  a  new  organ,  and  the 
introduction  of  choral  service,  with  the  Te  Deum 
sung  after  the  evening  service  : — 

When  the  organ  came,  which  old  Mrs.  W.  designated  a 
"  load  of  summut,"  the  cry  of  the  Wesleyans  was,  "  Here 
comes  Mr.  B.'s  Dagon." 

Another  letter  to  my  father  speaks  still  more 
strongly.  It  is  dated  February  7,  1839,  and,  after 
some  family  news,  he  says — 


30       LIFE    OF  BISHOP   ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

The  spirit  of  division  is  rampant.  Ranters  first,  I 
suspect,  were  encouraged  by  the  Methodists,  to  whom  now 
they  are  beginning  to  be  troublesome  :  a  result  which 
might  have  been  anticipated,  if  the  "  Chapellists  "  had  not, 
in  their  shortsightedness,  forgotten  that  this  mode  of  war- 
fare against  the  Church  would  probably  act  with  double 
force  against  themselves.  On  Sunday  afternoon,  from 
Hosea  vi.,  I  preached  with  the  view  to  an  improvement 
of  the  present  opportunities,  and  spoke  of  the  parish,  1st, 
as  torn  with  religious  divisions,  2nd,  as  smitten  both  with 
sin  and  sickness.  Under  the  first  head  I  started  the 
question  whether  religious  divisions  might  not  be  shown 
to  be  the  fruitful  source,  on  one  side,  of  infidelity  and 
atheism,  on  the  other,  of  profligacy  and  profaneness. 

This  was  tolerably  plain  speaking  for  a  represen- 
tative of  the  party  who  are  sometimes  supposed  by 
their  amiable  weakness  to  have  encouraged  the  sin 
of  schism. 

There  will  be  more  to  say  of  Sapcote  later  on, 
when  my  father  commenced  his  ministry  as  curate 
there.  A  few  years  have  been  anticipated  to  com- 
plete the  picture  of  my  grandfather.  Some  of  the 
old  folks  at  Acton  still  remember  him.  One  told  the 
writer  she  "minded  Mr.  Bickersteth.  He  was  very 
strict  about  the  Catechism."  Another  remembered 
the  first  sermon  that  led  her  to  think  seriously  of 
her  soul  ;  and  she  can  never  forget  many  texts 
imprinted  upon  her  memory  by  his  singularly  im- 
pressive manner  of  preaching.  Many  of  his  special 
sermons  were  published,  and  he  occasionally  visited 
neighbouring  parishes  on  behalf  of  the  Church 
Missionary  Society  ;  but  he  was,  as  a  rule,  singularly 
retiring,  and  was  content  to  live  amongst  his  own 
people. 


LETTERS  FROM  HIS   FATHER,  31 

The  same  devoted  spirit  which  was  shown  at 
Acton  distinguished  him  at  Sapcote,  and  letters 
written  from  thence  to  his  children  mention  different 
people  with  the  same  affectionate  individual  interest, 
which  shows  how  closely  the  heart  of  the  pastor  was 
bound  up  with  the  joys  and  sorrows  of  the  people 
committed  to  his  care. 

One  more  quotation  from  a  letter  addressed  to 
my  father  while  an  undergraduate  at  Cambridge, 
is  an  amusing  illustration  of  the  writer's  theological 
sentiments.  He  speaks  of  having  been  to  preach  in 
a  neighbouring  church,  and  says  of  the  incumbent — 

God  can  work  by  any  instrument,  but   I  do  not  think 

that seems  at  all  likely  to  draw  around  him  any  of  the 

mass  of  no-church-goers  at  T — •• — .  Mr.  P.  is  mighty  easy 
and  low  in  his  churchmanship  notions,  although  a  holy, 
good  man.  His  plan  does  not  seem  to  prosper.  He  says 
of  his  people — "  They  respect,  but  they  do  not  mind  me  ;  " 
but  surely  a  people  will  mind  the  man  whom  they  truly 
respect. 

It  may  be  interesting  to  add  an  extract  from  a 
letter  to  my  father,  in  1835,  in  which  my  grand- 
father explains  his  somewhat  neutral  position  in 
politics  : — 

To-day  is  our  county  election.  We  have  a  sort  of 
opposition,  and  no  opposition  ;  we  have  Rushbrook,  and 
Logan,  a  religious  man  and  a  temperate  Reformist,  and 
Hales,  of  whom  I  know  nothing,  except  that  he  is  claimed 
by  the  Radicals.  Though  quite  unpledged,  I  shall  probably 
give  one  vote  to  Logan  and  one  to  Wilson.  Logan  called 
and  behaved  very  courteously,  but  I  consider  a  vote  like 
that  I  am  going  to  give  rather  imperfect  as  a  specimen  of 
my  own  feeling,  and  all  but  neutralizing,  as  it  respects 


32       LIFE   OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

those  it  may  seem  to  benefit ;  still,  it  seems  to  be  better 
than  not  voting  at  all. 

At  this  time  the  sympathies  of  the  Evangelical 
clergy  were  mainly  with  the  party  of  reform,  chiefly 
because  they  had  been  allied  with  Wilberforce, 
Clarkson,  and  the  so-called  Clapham  sect,  on  the 
question  of  slavery  ;  and  my  grandfather  had  an 
additional  reason  for  being  in  the  main  a  Liberal 
from  his  intercourse  with  his  brother  Henry  (after- 
wards Lord  Langdale),  with  whom,  at  one  time,  he 
used  to  spend  his  annual  summer  holiday.  How- 
ever, it  is  not  surprising  that  a  country  clergyman 
should  hesitate  to  vote  for  a  candidate  of  whom 
he  knew  nothing,  but  that  he  was  claimed  by  the 
Radicals. 

In  the  general  upheaval  of  political  parties  that 
followed  the  first  Reform  Bill,  there  was  a  good  deal 
of  wild  talk  about  the  disestablishment  of  the  Church, 
and  the  Radical  in  question  may  have  been  com- 
mitted to  some  such  scheme. 

If  it  be  true,  as  a  very  eminent  authority  is 
reported  to  have  said,  that  the  disestablishment 
of  the  Church  looked  more  remote  in  1885  than  it 
did  in  1835,  the  change  in  public  opinion,  and  the 
firmer  grasp  which  the  Church  has  obtained  upon 
the  hearts  of  the  people,  is  largely  due  to  the  faith- 
ful efforts  to  promote  their  religious  and  social 
interests,  of  which  the  work  of  the  Rev.  John  Bicker- 
steth  at  Acton  is  a  conspicuous  example. 


CHAPTER   III. 

YOUTH  AND  EARLY  MANHOOD. 

Death  of  Mrs.  John  Bickersteth — A  career  in  the  navy  promised,  but 
exchanged  for  that  of  a  doctor — Robert  Bickersteth  a  medical 
student  in  London  and  Paris — He  comes  under  the  influence  of 
Henry  Melville — Goes  to  Cambridge  with  a  view  to  ordination — 
His  first  curacy  at  Sapcote — Reading  and  Clapham — His  first 
sermon  and  studious  life — Tenderness  and  sympathy  with  the 
poor— What  a  little  child  thought  of  Cousin  Robert's  sermons- 
Appointment  to  St.  John's,  Clapham,  and  marriage  with  Miss 
Elisabeth  Garde — A  crowded  church  and  attached  congregation 
— Growing  reputation  as  a  preacher — Style  and  matter  of  his 
preaching — Controversy  with  Rome,  and  work  in  connection  with 
Irish  Church  Missions. 

AT  the  time  of  his  mother's  death  my  father  had 
evidently  begun  to  think  of  being  a  clergyman,  and 
it  was  not  strange  that  all  his  father's  sons  should 
have  shared,  for  a  time  at  least,  the  same  inten- 
tion ;  but  it  was  not  yet  the  settled  purpose  of  his 
life,  and  for  a  time  he  was  attracted  by  the  offer 
of  a  career  in  the  Royal  Navy.  His  father's  friend, 
Lord  John  Hay,  entered  his  name  at  the  Admiralty, 
and  promised  him  a  midshipman's  berth.  However, 
there  was  a  delay  of  two  years  before  Lord  John 
got  a  ship,  and  by  that  time  my  father's  naval 
ardour  had  cooled. 

Meanwhile   he   had  followed   up   his   taste   for 

D 


34        LIFE   OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

surgery,  and  in  1833  he  went  to  Norwich  as  a 
pupil  to  Mr.  Crosse,  one  of  the  surgeons  of  the 
Norwich  Infirmary.  His  stay  at  Norwich  was  cut 
short  by  a  trifling  accident  which  brought  him  home 
to  Acton,  and  in  the  following  year  he  went  to 
London.  There  he  lodged  in  the  house  of  Dr. 
Whiting,  in  Rodney  Buildings,  New  Kent  Road- 
one  of  the  lecturers  at  the  Webb  Street  Medical 
School.  He  entered  as  a  student  at  St.  Thomas's 
Hospital,  which  then  stood  in  Tooley  Street,  oppo- 
site to  Guy's. 

Bishop  Pelham  was  then  a  curate  in  London, 
and  the  friendship  which  had  begun  at  Acton  was 
steadily  maintained.  The  student  confided  in  the 
clergyman  the  difficulties  which  beset  a  young  man 
who  was  beginning  to  walk  the  hospitals.  Coming 
fresh  from  the  religious  atmosphere  of  Acton,  he 
found  himself  in  a  world  very  different  from  that  to 
which  he  had  been  accustomed.  The  rough  jokes  and 
the  vulgar  materialism  of  the  dissecting-room  were 
doubtless  a  sore  trial,  but  he  was  well  able  to  hold 
his  own,  and  no  doubt  his  faith  was  strengthened 
by  the  opposition  against  which  he  had  to  fight. 

In  1836  he  passed  his  classical  examination  at 
the  Apothecaries'  Hall,  and  subsequently  went  to 
Paris  to  attend  the  hospitals  there,  before  applying 
for  the  licence  of  the  College  of  Surgeons.  A  few 
letters  from  Paris,  to  his  father  and  sisters,  seem  to 
show  that  his  life  was  a  lonely  one.  He  speaks  of 
his  little  chamber  in  the  Hotel  Corneille  being 
"  like  that  of  the  prophet  Elisha  in  the  house  of  the 
Shunamite,"  and  in  these  days  his  spare  time  was 
spent  in  the  composition  of  sermons,  which  marks 


INFLUENCE   OF  HENRY  MELVILLE.  35 

how  the  leading  motive  of  his  life  was  becoming 
more  and  more  apparent. 

My  father  was  elected  in  after-years  a  governor 
of  Guy's  Hospital,  and  retained  the  office  to  the 
end  of  his  life. 

From  the  time  of  his  first  leaving  home,  he 
had  always  been  a  regular  teacher  in  the  Sunday 
School  connected  with  Mr.  Hawtrey's  church  in 
Southwark,  and  it  was  during  his  residence  in 
London  that  a  change,  or  rather,  a  deepening,  of 
his  religious  convictions  took  place.  At  that  time 
no  preacher  in  London  exercised  a  wider  influence 
than  Henry  Melville.  Camden  Chapel,  Camden 
Town,  was  always  densely  crowded,  and  the  charm 
of  his  sermons,  evident  enough  to  those  who  are 
only  able  to  read  them,  was  enhanced  by  an  ex- 
quisite delivery,  and  the  strange  fascination  of  the 
crowd  which  hung  upon  his  lips.  My  father  was 
generally  amongst  his  hearers  each  Sunday  night, 
and  in  after-days  he  could  never  speak  of  Melville 
without  emotion.  He  writes  in  a  Journal  with  which 
he  relieved  the  weariness  of  the  last  months,  while 
he  was  waiting  for  the  end — 

I  can  never  be  sufficiently  thankful  for  the  privilege 
of  hearing  that  wonderful  man.  The  marvellousness  of  his 
eloquence  was  to  me  something  entirely  new.  I  had  never 
heard  anything  to  compare  with  it.  And  now,  after  a  lapse 
of  forty  years,  the  impressions  made  upon  me  by  his 
unrivalled  power  as  a  preacher  remain  as  vividly  fixed  in 
my  recollection  as  if  they  were  only  of  yesterday. 

His  sisters  recollect  how,  in  holiday  visits  to 
Sapcote,  my  father  would  repeat  whole  passages 
of  Melville's  sermons,  which  he  had  committed  to 


36       LIFE   OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

memory.  And  the  same  remained  stored  up  for 
after-years,  when  sometimes  they  would  be  re- 
peated to  his  children  in  the  course  of  a  ride 
through  the  woody  lanes  round  our  beautiful  home 
at  Ripon. 

The  influence  of  Melville  upon  my  father  was 
of  a  double  character.  It  was  his  ministry,  under 
God,  which,  co-operating  with  other  providential 
circumstances,  led  him  to  forsake  the  medical 
profession  for  the  ministry  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ ; 
and  his  manner  of  preaching  doubtless  had  its 
effect  upon  my  father's  style.  Of  other  external 
circumstances  which  led  to  his  decision  to  take 
Holy  Orders,  there  is  no  need  to  speak. 

For  a  long  time  there  was  a  conflict  in  his 
mind  whether  to  give  up  the  profession  in  which 
he  had  every  prospect  of  success  ;  and  he  seems 
to  have  shrunk  from  throwing  upon  his  father  the 
additional  burden  of  maintaining  another  son  at 
Cambridge,  when  the  whole  cost  of  his  medical 
training  would  be  thrown  away.  However,  he  con- 
fided his  desire  of  ordination  to  his  uncle,  Edward 
Bickersteth  of  Watton,  in  the  course  of  a  Sunday 
morning  walk  through  St.  James's  Park,  and  the 
latter  urged  him  to  acquaint  his  father  with  his 
wish. 

It  was  late  in  life  for  so  important  a  change. 
His  classical  attainments  had  been  growing  less 
during  the  last  four  years,  and  his  early  mathematical 
training  had  been  scanty  enough. 

However,  unwearied  industry,  and  the  concen- 
trated purpose  of  one  who  had  at  last  found  his 
work,  and  meant  to  do  it,  enabled  him  to  pass 


LIFE  AT  CAMBRIDGE.  37 

through  Cambridge  with  greater  distinction  than 
might  have  been  expected  from  his  training.  He 
entered  at  Queen's  College  in  October,  1837,  and 
used  to  recall  in  after-years  the  fact  that  he  came 
into  residence  on  St.  Luke's  Day.  The  coincidence 
marked  the  providence  by  which  he,  too,  was  called 
to  be  an  evangelist  and  physician  of  the  soul. 

Of  his  career  at  Cambridge  there  is  little  to 
say.  In  his  second  year  he  obtained  a  scholarship 
at  Queen's. 

He  entered  the  University  later  than  other  men, 
and  with  his  mind  already  made  up  on  points 
which  are,  to  most  young  men,  a  source  of  per- 
plexing speculation  at  the  outset  of  college  life. 
This,  perhaps,  accounts  for  the  fact  that  he  mixed 
little  in  the  ordinary  pursuits  of  undergraduates, 
and  was  less  affected  than  others  by  the  secondary 
influences  of  University  life. 

The  venerable  Master  of  Queen's,  Dr.  Phillips, 
who  had  been  his  tutor,  wrote  after  my  father's  death 
to  testify  to  the  recollection,  after  forty-seven  years, 
of  his  high  example,  and  the  feeling  of  respect  with 
which  he  himself  used  to  regard  his  pupil.  As  a 
teacher  in  the  Jesus  Lane  Sunday  school,  he  retained 
the  habit  which  had  been  formed  at  Acton  and  main- 
tained in  London.  There  was  nothing  in  his  under- 
graduate life  to  which  he  looked  back  with  greater 
pleasure  than  the  opportunity  of  hearing  Melville  as 
select  preacher  in  two  successive  years,  and  it  was 
at  Cambridge  that  he  first  had  the  opportunity  of 
meeting  in  private  the  great  teacher  to  whose  public 
ministry  he  owed  so  much. 

My  father's  private  tutor  was  Mr.  P.  Mason,  and 


38       LIFE   OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

the  latter  was  grievously  disappointed  at  the  degree 
which  his  pupil  obtained. 

Coming,  as  he  did,  to  the  University  after  four 
or  five  years  spent  in  the  preparation  for  another 
profession,  it  was  not  likely  that  my  father  would  do 
justice  to  his  natural  ability  ;  but  Mr.  Mason  had 
given  him  every  hope  of  being  a  wrangler.  When 
the  list  came  out,  and  my  father  appeared  amongst 
the  junior  optimes,  it  was  explained  by  the  fact  that 
he  had  followed  too  literally  his  tutor's  advice,  and  had 
neglected  parts  of  the  work  on  which  the  examiners 
were  determined  to  insist.  And  yet  it  is  impossible 
to  regret  it.  My  father  used  often  to  trace  the  Hand 
of  God  in  thus  stopping  the  career  which  might  have 
been  his  had  he  obtained  a  higher  degree,  and,  in 
consequence,  a  Fellowship  at  his  College.  My 
father  took  his  degree  in  January,  1841,  and  was 
ordained  Deacon  by  the  Bishop  of  Peterborough  in 
Peterborough  Cathedral,  in  the  following  March. 

His  father  gave  him  a  title  to  the  curacy  of 
Sapcote,  where  the  former  had  been  for  the  past 
four  years. 

The  time  of  ordination  can  hardly  fail  to  be 
the  most  solemn  period  in  a  man's  life,  and  yet  the 
arrangements  at  Peterborough,  as  everywhere  else 
until  recent  days,  were  not  of  a  kind  to  deepen  the 
natural  feelings  of  solemnity  appropriate  to  such  a 
time.  The  candidates  were  all  lodged  at  the  prin- 
cipal hotel,  and  dined  together  each  evening,  at  an 
hour  which  might  have  been  utilised  as  a  precious 
opportunity  of  prayer  and  meditation.  The  exami- 
nation itself  was  purely  formal,  and  there  was  no 
address  or  devotional  help  given  to  the  candidates. 


CURACY  AT  SAPCOTE.  39 

My  father  remembered  this  in  after-days,  and 
was  very  particular  at  Ripon,  where  it  was  impos- 
sible to  lodge  all  the  candidates  at  the  Palace,  to 
arrange  that  they  should  obtain  quiet  lodgings, 
while  he  was  anxious  to  make  the  most  of  the  golden 
opportunity  for  deepening  the  spiritual  life  of  those 
who  were  entering  on  their  sacred  profession. 

The  curacy  of  Sapcote  was  an  admirable  pre- 
paration for  future  work,  and  in  the  Journal  to  which 
I  have  already  alluded  my  father  wrote — 

I  had  ample  time  for  reading.  As  a  rule,  I  read  in  my 
father's  library  every  morning  from  nine  till  one,  spent  the 
afternoon  in  visiting  the  poor,  and  got  some  time  for  read- 
ing every  evening  besides.  It  was  seldom  that  I  had  to 
preach  more  than  once  on  Sunday,  and  this  allowed  of  my 
giving  full  time  to  the  preparation  of  sermons.  It  was 
then,  and  for  several  years  afterwards,  my  habit  to  write 
out  every  sermon,  word  for  word,  and  spend  an  amount 
of  care  on  the  style  and  composition  which  was  invalu- 
able to  me  in  after-years,  and  other  places  of  ministerial 
labour. 

These  sermons  preached  at  Sapcote  bear  evident 
traces  of  most  careful  study.  The  original  text  of 
the  New  Testament  and  the  Septuagint  seem  to 
have  been  always  consulted. 

From  a  bundle  of  the  sermons  I  cannot  forbear 
to  quote  the  concluding  paragraph  of  the  first  he 
ever  preached,  sounding  as  it  does  so  emphatically 
the  keynote  of  his  ministry.  The  text  is  i  Cor.  ii.  2  : 
"  I  determined  not  to  know  anything  among  you, 
save  Jesus  Christ,  and  Him  crucified."  Showing 
how  every  doctrine  necessary  to  salvation  centred 
round  the  Cross,  he  concluded  with  one  of  those 


40       LIFE    OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

intensely  earnest  personal  appeals   which  were  the 
chief  characteristic  of  all  his  sermons  :— 

I  glory  in  the  privilege  of  being  permitted  to  proclaim 
the  glad  tidings  of  redemption — that  there  is  not  one  of 
you  for  whom  Christ's  Blood  has  not  been  shed,  not  one 
who  has  not  salvation  within  his  reach.  I  care  not  what 
may  have  been  your  sins  in  time  past.  They  may  be  like 
mountains,  but  there  is  strength  in  Christ  to  cast  them  into 
the  depths  of  the  sea ;  and  He  is  just  as  willing  as  He  is 
able.  "  Him  that  cometh  to  Me  I  will  in  nowise  cast  out." 
Then  yield  yourselves,  body  and  soul,  to  the  touch  of  your 
Redeemer.  But  come  like  men  resolved  to  be  saved  ;  like 
men  who  feel  that  unless  on  the  Rock  they  must  finally 
sink  in  a  deluge  of  wrath. 

You  will  readily  believe  it  is  not  without  much  anxiety 
that  I  enter  this  day  on  the  duties  of  the  ministerial  office. 
It  is  an  office  from  which  I  can  only  be  released  by  death  ; 
an  office  on  which  may  be  dependent  the  interests  of  hun- 
dreds, nay,  of  thousands  ;  their  interests  not  for  time  alone, 
but  for  eternity.  Each  soul  that  conies  within  the  reach 
of  the  sound  of  my  voice  may  hereafter  be  a  witness  either 
for  or  against  me.  This  I  know,  that  nothing  can  prevent 
their  being  written  against  me,  but  the  determination  on 
my  part  to  preach  nothing  but  Christ  and  Him  crucified. 
How,  then,  can  I  forbear  on  this,  the  first  morning  of  my 
ministry,  to  entreat  your  prayers  that,  whether  called  to 
labour  for  a  brief  or  an  extended  period,  it  may  be  my  lot 
at  the  last,  in  summing  up  my  ministry,  to  say  of  it,  I 
determined,  and  through  God's  grace  have  kept  the  deter- 
mination, to  know  nothing  but  Jesus  and  Him  crucified  ? 

A  cousin,  Mrs.  Wheeler,  wrote  last  year,  only  a 
few  hours  before  she  died,  some  reminiscences  of  my 
father  as  curate  of  Sapcote  :— 

I  very  frequently  visited  Sapcote.  My  cousin  Robert  had 
recently  been  ordained  to  his  father's  curacy ;  the  people 


VISIT   TO    THE   CHANNEL   ISLANDS.  41 

were  already  growing  attached  to  him,  he  showed  such 
sympathy  in  their  troubles.  One  Sunday  my  uncle  asked, 
"  Why  did  you  preach  about  the  lion  and  the  bear  this 
morning  ?  "  "  Because  they  took  a  lamb  out  of  the  flock, 
and  I  wanted  to  say  something  that  might  comfort  poor 

Mrs. ,  who  has  so  lately  lost  a  little  lamb  out  of  her 

flock."  It  was  beautiful  to  see  the  loving,  trustful  terms  on 
which  father  and  son  were. 

About  this  time  he  was  invited  to  preach  by  his 
uncle  at  Watton,  "  And,"  says  a  family  letter,  "  con- 
sidering what  the  Watton  Sundays  are,  we  all  think 
this  no  small  honour  for  so  recently  ordained  a 
curate." 

A  pretty  story  is  preserved  of  a  little  cousin 
Janey,  only  child  of  his  uncle  Henry,  who,  when 
only  eight  years  old,  and  a  visitor  at  Sapcote,  used 
to  say,  "  I  do  like  Cousin  Robert's  sermons  ;  they 
always  make  me  want  to  be  good."  Can  any 
preacher  have  a  higher  tribute  paid  to  him  than  that  ? 

In  1841  my  father  paid  a  visit  to  his  old  friend  Mr. 
Hawtrey,  who  had  charge  of  St.  Mary's,  Guernsey, 
and  occasionally  preached  in  that  and  other  churches 
in  the  Channel  Islands,  where  he  first  addressed  an 
educated  congregation.  In  the  following  year  he 
took  charge  of  the  parish  of  Wooler  in  Northumber- 
land for  six  or  seven  weeks,  for  his  friend,  Mr.  John 
Grey ;  but,  with  these  exceptions,  the  curacy  of  Sap- 
cote  was  a  very  quiet  time,  in  which  my  father  was 
laying  up  a  store  of  material  which  stood  him  in 
good  stead  in  busier  days  to  come.  My  father  often 
quoted  the  advantages  he  received  by  this  time  for 
study,  in  advising  young  men  to  seek  their  first 
curacies  in  parishes  where  they  could  have  some 
leisure  for  personal  improvement. 


42       LIFE   OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

And  the  moderate  work  of  a  country  parish 
helped  to  form  the  habit  of  close  pastoral  oversight 
and  house  to  house  visitation,  which,  when  once 
formed,  sets  the  ideal  of  the  ministry,  even  when 
overgrown  populations  render  its  realisation  almost 
impossible. 

Leaving  Sapcote  in  1843,  my  father  accepted 
the  curacy  of  St.  Giles,  Reading,  under  the  Rev. 
T.  C.  Grainger.  The  two  years  spent  at  Reading 
were  very  happy  ones.  A  kindly  vicar,  whose  holy 
example  and  powerful  preaching  he  always  gratefully 
remembered,  and  the  active  work  of  a  large  parish, 
were  important  elements  in  his  training ;  while  he 
gradually  obtained  an  insight  into  the  larger  ques- 
tions which  were  perplexing  the  Church.  Writing 
on  December  10,  1844,  to  his  brother  Edward, 
the  present  Dean  of  Lichfield,  my  father  says — 

What  a  fearful  state  our  poor  Church  is  in  !  I  am 
anxious  to  see  what  the  Exeter  diocese  clergy  do.  I  should 
be  greatly  puzzled  whether  or  no  to  obey  the  bishop.  His 
letter  seems  very  cleverly  written,  but  his  decisions  appear 
to  me  to  go  upon  entirely  false  assumptions,  and  certainly 
they  are  in  the  direction  of  Tractarianism. 

The  same  letter  has  another  item  of  curious 
interest — 

I  have  been  asked  to  look  out  for  clergymen  for  some 
of  the  new  districts  in  Yorkshire,  under  Peel's  Act.  The 
salary  is  ^"130  till  a  church  is  built ;  it  will  then  be  £i$o, 
with  a  house.  It  is  a  relative  of  the  Bishop  of  Ripon's  who 
asked  me,  and  if  you  know  of  any  one,  I  should  be  glad  to 
get  his  name  put  before  the  bishop. 

From  Reading  my  father  went  to  Clapham,  to  a 


ST.   JOHN'S,   CLAPHAM.  43 

curacy  at  the  parish  church,  under  Dr.  Dealtry,  to 
whom  he  had  been  recommended  by  the  Rev. 
Charles  Bradley,  father  of  the  present  Dean  of 
Westminster. 

He  entered  on  his  duties  at  Clapham  in  1845,  and 
about  the  same  time,  without  any  solicitation  on  his 
part,  he  was  elected  to  the  Limborough  Lectureship, 
at  Christ  Church,  Spitalfields,  and  the  chaplaincy  of 
the  Weavers'  Company.  His  power  as  a  preacher 
had  already  attracted  considerable  attention ;  and 
his  name,  well  known  through  the  wide  reputation 
of  his  uncles,  soon  brought  offers  of  preferment ;  but 
he  remained  at  the  parish  church  until  Dr.  Dealtry 
offered  him,  at  the  close  of  1845,  tne  incumbency  of 
St.  John's,  Clapham  Rise. 

This  appointment  was  a  very  important  one  to 
my  father,  for  not  only  did  it  place  him  in  a  position 
of  great  influence,  where  his  preaching  soon  attracted 
a  large  congregation,  but  it  enabled  him  to  con- 
template a  step  which  secured  the  singular  happiness 
of  his  whole  domestic  life.  He  wrote  in  the  dark 
days  to  which  I  have  already  alluded,  when  he  was 
so  much  dependent  on  the  loving  tenderness  of  the 
best  of  all  possible  nurses — 

To  that  period  I  look  back  with  the  deepest  thankfulness 
to  Almighty  God,  as  a  turning-point  in  my  life,  the  com- 
mencement of  a  career  of  unmingled  happiness  and  pros- 
perity, and  the  occasion  of  never  ceasing  praise  to  God  for 
His  mercy,  in  having  guided  me  to  the  choice  of  one  so 
incomparably  qualified  to  promote  my  happiness  in  every 
possible  way. 

My  father  entered  upon  his  new  duties  on  St. 
Matthew's  Day,  1845,  and  he  writes — 


44       LIFE    OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

From  that  day  until  the  close  of  my  ministry  in  St. 
John's,  goodness  and  mercy  seemed  to  follow  me  without 
interruption. 

In  the  beginning  of  1846  he  resigned  the 
preachership  at  the  Magdalene,  which  he  had  held 
for  some  months,  and  devoted  his  whole  time  and 
energy  to  St.  John's. 

Some  two  years  before  this  my  father  had 
first  made  the  acquaintance  of  his  future  wife, 
Miss  Elisabeth  Garde,  the  third  daughter  of  Mr. 
Joseph  Garde,  of  Cork.  Her  parents  had  died  many 
years  before,  and  she  was  then  staying  with  her 
brother,  the  Rev.  Richard  Garde,  in  whose  church, 
at  Harold,  in  Bedfordshire,  my  father  and  mother 
were  married  by  my  grandfather,  on  the  2ist  of 
July,  1846;  and,  after  a  brief  wedding  tour,  my 
father  brought  his  bride  home  to  Clapham. 

St.  John's  Church  soon  became  filled  with  a  very 
large  congregation,  devotedly  attached  to  their  new 
Incumbent.  The  Rev.  Clement  Cobb,  who  served 
under  my  father  as  curate  at  St.  John's,  and  was 
afterwards  one  of  his  chaplains,  has  kindly  written 
a  sketch  of  his  ministry  at  Clapham,  to  which  this 
narrative  is  largely  indebted. 

The  parishioners  of  St.  John's  consisted  chiefly 
of  business  men,  who  resided  at  Clapham,  and  were 
engaged  daily  in  the  city. 

My  father  made  it  a  rule  to  devote  his  evenings 
to  the  wealthier  members  of  his  flock,  but  he 
certainly  did  not  mingle  with  them  in  merely  social 
intercourse.  It  was  clearly  understood  at  St.  John's, 
that  when  Mr.  Bickersteth  was  a  guest  at  some  social 
gathering,  the  conversation  would  turn  on  matters 


ATTENTIVE   CONGREGATIONS.  45 

uppermost  in  the  hearts  of  Christian  people,  and  the 
evening  would  be  closed  with  family  prayer.  In  this 
way  many  fast  friendships  were  formed,  and  a  power- 
ful influence  for  good  was  brought  to  bear  upon  the 
families  and  friends  of  those  attending  the  church. 

But  the  public  ministries  of  the  pulpit  were  the 
means  of  exercising  a  wider  influence. 

At  this  time,  at  any  rate,  my  father's  sermons  on 
Sunday  were  always  written,  and  bear  the  marks  of 
laborious  preparation  of  both  style  and  matter. 
Though  there  was  nothing  in  the  least  artificial  in 
his  diction,  yet  the  exquisite  modulation  of  his  voice, 
which  contributed  so  largely  to  cast  a  spell  over  his 
hearers,  was  not  acquired  without  careful  cultivation. 
On  Sunday  mornings  the  sermons  were  compara- 
tively free  from  any  appeal  to  the  emotions,  and 
were  addressed  rather  to  the  head  than  the  heart ; 
but  the  evening  sermons,  which  attracted  a  wider 
class,  were  models  of  popular  oratory. 

Mr.  Cobb,  speaking  of  the  crowds  which  were 
attracted  to  St.  John's,  says— 

The  plain  and  unecclesiastical  church  had  its  best 
ornament  in  the  eighteen  hundred  people  who  filled  every 
seat  that  was  constructed,  or  could  be  extemporised,  and 
hung  on  the  preacher's  lips  with  breathless  attention.  I 
never  saw  anything  like  it,  excepting  when  I  have  heard 
Melville,  the  then  prince  of  sacred  orators,  preach  a  special 
sermon. 

Though  by  no  means  his  only  power,  there  is  no  doubt 
that  preaching  was  Mr.  Bickersteth's  great  power.  There 
was  no  complaint  of  long  sermons,  though  he  usually 
preached  for  fifty  minutes.  His  sermons  on  Sunday  were 
written  throughout.  They  would  frequently  commence 
with  a  clear  restimd  of  the  Scriptural  narrative  with  which 


46       LIFE    OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  B1CKERSTETH. 

the  text  was  connected,  which  enlisted  the  interest  of  all, 
and  was  most  instructive  to  those  who  had  read  their 
Bible  without  careful  thought.  On  this  would  be  founded 
the  argument,  usually  divided  into  several  periods. 

Every  one  was  attentive  to  the  forcible  closing  up  of 
each  of  these ;  after  which  the  silence  caused  by  pent-up 
feeling  was  relaxed  in  a  momentary  outburst  of  coughs, 
movements  of  position,  etc. 

It  is  certainly  true  that  the  chief  attraction  at 
St.  John's  was  the  pulpit,  and  there  was  nothing 
in  the  externals  of  the  church  or  its  services  to 
account  for  its  popularity.  The  old  black  gown 
was  the  preaching  vestment,  and  a  surpliced  choir 
was  unheard  of;  but  the  service  was  by  no  means 
carelessly  rendered.  A  volume  of  sound  showed 
that  the  responses  were  heartily  given,  and  the 
fervour  of  the  worshippers  was  evidence  that  the 
preaching  really  stirred  their  hearts,  as  it  de- 
lighted their  ears.  Then,  as  always,  my  father  had 
the  greatest  dislike  to  any  negligent  ways  in  the 
House  of  God.  His  own  reverence  was  instinctive 
and  contagious,  and  no  service  for  which  he  was 
responsible  could  fail  to  be  rendered  decently  and  in 
order. 

The  immense  number  of  communicants  com- 
pelled my  father  to  be  one  of  the  first  to  introduce 
the  early  Celebrations  of  Holy  Communion,  which 
have  been  at  once  the  effect  and  the  cause  of  much 
revival  of  spiritual  life. 

The  elaborate  preparation  of  his  sermons,  and 
the  growing  calls  of  public  duty  beyond  the  limits  of 
his  parish,  did  not  mean  that  the  ordinary  parochial 
duties  were  neglected.  The  schools  were  a  first 
claim  upon  his  attention ;  and  the  whole  parish  was 


CHARACTER   OF  HIS   SERMONS.  47 

mapped  out  and  regularly  visited  by  himself  and 
his  curates,  as  well  as  by  an  organised  staff  of 
district  visitors ;  while  every  kind  of  parochial 
charity  was  largely  supported  by  the  wealthy  laity 
who  were  drawn  to  the  church. 

One  feature  at  St.  John's,  which  he  reproduced 
in  St.  Giles's,  and  which  was  always  very  near  my 
father's  heart,  was  a  special  service  for  the  poor, 
which  he  held  every  Monday  night.  It  was  the 
rule  that  people  should  come  in  their  working 
clothes,  and  each  Monday  night  the  schoolroom 
was  filled  with  an  audience,  chiefly  of  laundresses, 
to  whom  he  would  preach  in  homely  language  the 
Gospel  which  "  the  common  people  "  hear  as  gladly 
now  as  when  they  flocked  round  the  Master  Him- 
self in  Galilee.  My  father  used  sometimes  to  tell 
us  how  people  invaded  this  service  for  whom 
it  was  not  intended,  and  well-to-do  parishioners 
used  to  try  to  sit  unnoticed  amongst  their  poorer 
neighbours. 

The  one  subject  uppermost  in  the  preaching 
at  St.  John's  was  the  everlasting  Gospel  of  our 
Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ.  Then,  and  through- 
out his  life,  my  father  used  to  say,  that  no  sermon 
was  worthy  of  the  name  which  did  not  contain  the 
message  of  the  Gospel,  urging  the  sinner  to  be 
reconciled  with  God ;  and  he  himself  never  forgot 
that  he  spoke  as  the  ambassador  of  the  King  of 
kings,  bearing  the  tidings  of  pardon  to  all  who 
knew  their  need  of  forgiveness  and  of  peace.  Yet 
this  never  meant  a  ceaseless  repetition,  nor  that 
identical  sermons  were  formed  on  different  texts. 
The  sermons  were  full  of  scriptural  exegesis,  and 


48       LIFE   OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

were  often  masterly  expositions  of  great  doctrines 
of  the  Trinity,  the   Incarnation,  or  the  Person  and 
work  of  the  Holy  Spirit.     Sometimes,  at  Clapham, 
my  father   was    controversial,   and    he   was    by  no 
means  backward  to  avow  an  uncompromising  hos- 
tility to  what  he  thought  the  deadly  errors  of  the 
Roman    Church.      On    the    occasion    of  the  Papal 
aggression  he  delivered  a  series  of  lectures  on  the 
characteristics  of   Romanism,  which  were   listened 
to  with  eager  interest  by  very  large  congregations. 
To   my  father's  mind  the   Papacy  was  the  gigantic 
lie    which  attempts  to  stand  between  the  soul  and 
Christ.     He  thought  the  whole  system  dishonouring 
to  our  Blessed  Lord  as  the  one  Mediator  between 
God    and    man.       He    dreaded    what    he    thought 
showed   a  growing  tendency  in    our   own    Church 
towards  similar  doctrines,  and  he  was  by  no  means 
displeased  to  be  known  as  a  champion  of  those  who 
were   opposed  to   the  Tractarian   Movement.     He 
had  an  intense  desire  to  bring  each  soul  into  con- 
tact with  Christ ;  and  though  he  did  not  insist  on 
a   sudden,    sensible   conversion,    he   taught   that   a 
conscious  turning  from  sin  to  God  was  the  crisis 
of  the  religious  life,  and  the  only  true  foundation  of 
future  peace  and  progress.     He  was  very  jealous 
for  the  true  relation  between  the  processes  of  justifi- 
cation and  sanctification,  and  felt  how  great  an  injury 
is  done  to  souls,  by  trying  to  build   up  a  holy  life 
when  the  right  foundation  has  never  been  laid  in 
the  surrender  of  the  heart  and  will  to  God. 

In  later  days  my  father  fully  believed  that  this 
Evangelical  doctrine  was  faithfully  taught  by  many 
High  Churchmen,  and  if  he  was  once  convinced 


IRISH  CHURCH  MISSIONS.  49 

that  the  aim  of  a  ministry  was  to  exalt  Jesus  only, 
he  had  no  heart  to  quarrel  with  other  beliefs  and 
practices  widely  different  from  his  own. 

His  strong  anti- Roman  views  led  my  father  to 
embrace  with  all  his  heart  the  work  of  the  Society 
for  promoting  the  Irish  Church  Missions  to  Roman 
Catholics. 

From  his  close  connection  with  this  work,  it 
may  be  interesting  to  give  a  brief  account  of  the 
origin  of  the  society,  which  was  founded  by  a  very 
zealous  and  able  clergyman,  the  Rev.  Alexander 
Dallas,  in  the  year  1847. 

Of  course  there  had  previously  been  efforts  to 
influence  Roman  Catholics,  but  up  to  this  date  the 
Irish  Church,  as  such,  had  not  made  any  effort  to 
grapple  with  the  difficulty  of  Romanism. 

The  clergy  had  been  content  to  minister  to  their 
scanty  flock,  consisting  of  what  the  Nationalists 
call  the  English  garrison  and  their  few  dependents. 
It  was  a  humiliating  position  for  a  national  religious 
establishment,  which  claimed  to  be  the  representa- 
tive of  the  same  Catholic  Church  as  St.  Patrick. 
They  had  sunk  so  low  as  to  surrender  the  past  to 
the  Romanists  ;  and,  careless  of  the  fact  that  Roman- 
ism itself  had,  in  many  districts,  only  a  slender 
influence  on  the  morals  and  civilisation  of  the 
people,  the  Established  Church  made  no  adequate 
effort  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  the  poor.  Of  course 
their  position  was  one  of  peculiar  difficulty ;  and 
my  father  clearly  stated  its  extent  in  the  House 
of  Lords,  in  the  course  of  a  speech  in  which  he 
strongly  opposed  the  disestablishment  of  the  Irish 
Church.  The  speech  will  be  found  at  length  in 


50       LIFE   OF  BISHOP   ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

a  later  chapter  of  this  book,  so  I  will  not  quote 
it  here. 

If  my  father  and  his  friends  had  been  able,  thirty- 
years  ago,  to  fire  the  Irish  clergy  with  their  own 
evangelistic  spirit,  the  state  of  Ireland  might  have 
been  very  different  to-day.  We  should  have  seen 
a  fusion  of  hostile  interests  in  the  love  of  a  common 
Redeemer,  and  the  Irish  Church,  instead  of  meeting 
with  the  treatment  its  apathy  had  done  much  to 
justify,  might  still  have  been  the  cherished  heritage 
of  a  people  at  once  Catholic  and  reformed. 

The  story  of  the  Irish  Church  Missions,  as 
told  by  Mr.  Dallas,  is  one  of  thrilling  interest, 
and  some  of  my  father's  happiest  days  were  those 
he  spent  in  company  with  his  honoured  friend 
in  visiting  the  mission  stations,  and  preaching  the 
Gospel  of  Christ  where  the  utmost  spiritual  desti- 
tution prevailed. 

It  is  only  fair  to  notice,  in  treating  the  religious 
question  in  Ireland,  that  the  Romanists  have  been 
blamed  for  a  state  of  things  which  they  were  power- 
less to  prevent. 

In  the  thinly-populated  districts  of  Connemara, 
where  the  people  had  lapsed  into  a  state  of  uncivi- 
lised barbarism,  many  were  attached  to  the  Roman 
Church  only  in  name ;  but  it  is  a  strange  character- 
istic of  the  Roman  system,  that  it  retains  some  sort 
of  hold  over  the  affections  of  people  who  are 
practically  untouched  by  its  moral  and  spiritual 
teaching.  Without  charging  the  Roman  clergy 
with  wilfully  keeping  their  nominal  adherents  in 
ignorance  and  superstition,  it  is  no  exaggeration  to 
say  that  they  left  vast  tracts  of  country  untaught. 


LECTURE  AT  EXETER  HALL.  51 

Surely  this  left  the  more  responsibility  upon  the 
ordained  ministers  of  Christ,  who  were  settled  in 
each  parish  as  teachers  of  a  pure  Catholic  and 
reformed  faith.  These  were  the  men  whom  Mr. 
Dallas  and  my  father  tried  to  stimulate  to  a  sense 
of  compassion  for  the  outcast  and  degraded  people 
amongst  whom  they  lived. 

In  the  course  of  a  lecture  delivered  in  London 
to  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  at  Exeter 
Hall,  in  1852,  my  father  gives  a  graphic  description 
of  the  Irish  Church  Mission  work.  After  showing 
the  method  of  attack,  which  was  to  promote  inquiry 
and  bring  every  doctrine  to  the  touchstone  of  Holy 
Scripture,  he  goes  on— 

I  come,  thirdly,  to  the  results,  the  visible  and  appreciable 
results,  which  have  followed  from  the  labours  of  the  society 
in  Ireland.  .  .  .  Within  four  years  of  the  commencement 
of  the  work,  an  impression  has  been  made  which  has  far 
exceeded  the  most  sanguine  expectations  of  the  founders 
of  the  Association,  aroused  the  attention  of  the  empire,  and 
wrung  from  the  Romish  hierarchy  the  unwilling  admission 
that  their  power  in  Ireland  is  fast  approaching  destruction. 
The  reformation,  which  commenced  in  Galway,  at  Castle 
Kirk,  quickly  gained  ground  in  various  parts  in  and  around 
that  place.  Spite  of  every  opposition  on  the  part  of  Romish 
priests  and  those  who  were  influenced  by  them,  the  preach- 
ing of  the  missionaries  was  attended  by  crowds  of  eager 
listeners ;  the  agents  found  ready  access  to  the  cabins  of 
the  Romanists,  the  school-houses  became  overcrowded  by 
children  and  adults,  thirsting  for  instruction  out  of  God's 
Word.  A  place  called  Oughterard  was  soon  adopted  as  a 
second  missionary  station ;  agents  of  the  society  were  planted 
there,  opposition  was  kindled  ;  but  it  issued  in  the  advance- 
ment of  the  truth.  .  .  .  Conversions  rapidly  succeeded  each 
other.  The  spell  of  the  priest  was  broken,  and  the  desire 


52       LIFE   OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

for  spiritual  freedom,  then  kindled  for  the  first  time  for 
ages,  was  developed  in  the  irresistible  determination  to 
shake  off  the  bondage  of  Romanism. 

From  thence  the  reformation  proceeded  right  and  left. 
Clifden,  an  important  town  about  thirty  miles  west  of 
Castle  Kirk,  soon  became  a  rallying  place  for  an  extensive 
district  all  around.  January,  1848,  witnessed  the  first 
operations  of  the  missionaries  in  that  quarter.  In  an 
almost  incredibly  short  space  of  time  250  children  were 
under  regular  weekly  instruction  in  the  mission  schools. 
The  light  which  had  dawned  upon  Clifden  radiated  to  other 
villages  on  every  side,  till,  ere  long,  the  ray  fell  upon  Sel- 
lerna,  Cleggan,  Salruc,  Barratrough,  Ballyconre,  Ballyna- 
boy,  Duholla,  and  Derrygimla. 

All  Connemara  caught  the  glorious  illumination.  In 
each  of  these  places  mission  schools  were  established,  Pro- 
testant services  were  held  ;  slaves  of  Popery,  being  in- 
structed in  the  truth  of  the  Gospel,  rejoiced  to  shake  off  their 
bondage  and  embrace  the  liberty  wherewith  Christ  makes 
His  people  free.  Within  one  year  from  the  commencement 
of  the  work  401  converts  came  forward  to  receive  at  the 
hands  of  the  Bishop  of  Tuam  the  rite  of  Confirmation : 
to  a  man  have  these  converts  remained  staunch  to  the 
profession  which  they  then  made,  and  forty-six  have  died 
rejoicing  in  Christ  Jesus.  In  September  last  the  Bishop  of 
Tuam  again  held  a  tour  of  Confirmations  in  the  same  dis- 
trict, when  712  converts  publicly  avowed  their  renunciation 
of  Popery,  and  their  adhesion  to  the  Protestant  faith.  In 
one  union  of  parishes  in  West  Gal  way,  where  in  1840  there 
were  not  more  than  500  Protestants,  there  are  now  between 
5000  and  6000  converts. 

In  the  same  district  there  are  3500  children  in  daily 
attendance  at  the  mission  schools.  The  erection  of  ten 
new  churches  for  the  accommodation  of  as  many  congre- 
gations has  become  imperatively  needful.  ...  So  decisive 
has  been  the  progress  of  the  work,  we  are  able  to  affirm 
that  a  tract  of  country  extending  about  fifty  miles  in 
length  from  Galway  to  Omey,  and  thirty  miles  in  breadth 


WORK  IN  IRELAND.  53 

from  Salruc  to  Inverin,  which  five  years  ago  was  essentially 
Popish  and  ecclesiastically  desert,  has  now  become  cha- 
racteristically convert  and  Protestant,  dotted  with  churches 
and  schoolrooms,  with  a  flock  gathered  by  pastors  of  the 
United  Church. 

Nor  is  this  great  work  of  reformation  confined  to  Gal- 
way.  It  is  gradually  advancing  throughout  various  other 
extensive  tracts  of  country.  The  flame  which  was  kindled 
amid  the  rocky  passes  of  Connemara  soon  extended  to  the 
town  of  Galway ;  from  thence  it  has  reached  Limerick, 
Belfast,  Carlow,  Kilkenny,  Drogheda,  Enniscorthy,  and 
Wicklow ;  and  it  is  even  now  lighting  up  at  this  moment 
some  of  the  murkiest  alleys  in  Dublin  itself.  Two  thousand 
Romanists  in  that  city  are  visited  weekly  by  the  agents  of 
the  Irish  Church  Mission  Society.  The  lanes  and  courts 
of  the  metropolis  are  penetrated  by  these  indefatigable 
pioneers  of  the  Gospel.  Every  Tuesday  evening  there 
meets  a  class  of  inquiring  Romanists,  in  a  large  schoolroom 
attached  to  St.  Michan's  Church,  for  the  express  purpose  of 
comparing  the  doctrines  of  God's  Word  with  the  dogmas 
of  the  Church  of  Rome. 

These  are  no  coloured  representations.  These  are  no 
exaggerated  statements.  I  speak  of  what  I  have  seen ;  I 
am  giving  you  the  facts  which  I  have  verified  from  my  own 
observation.  I  have  wandered  through  the  desert  wilds  of 
Connemara,  I  have  preached  to  the  poor  wretched  pea- 
santry there  the  truths  of  the  everlasting  Gospel,  and  I 
have  watched  with  delighted  amazement  the  devouring 
eagerness  with  which  they  drank  in  the  tidings  of  the 
blessed  story  of  peace.  I  have  seen  the  hearty  and  spirit- 
catching  enthusiasm  with  which  they  welcomed  the  appear- 
ance amongst  them  of  the  English  missionary.  I  have 
heard  the  young  and  old,  men,  women,  and  children,  wake 
the  mountain  echoes  with  their  "  Cead  mille  fealthe ! "  for 
the  messengers  who  came  from  afar  to  disenthral  them, 
by  the  sword  of  the  Spirit,  from  the  chains  which  Rome  had 
forged  and  fastened.  I  have  examined  the  children  in  the 
crowded  school-houses,  where  hundreds  and  hundreds  are 


54       LIFE    OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

packed  into  the  narrowest  compass,  and  never  did  I  witness 
quicker  intelligence,  readier  apprehension,  or  a  more  inti- 
mate acquaintance  with  the  facts  and  the  precepts,  the 
promises  and  the  distinguishing  doctrines  of  the  Gospel. 
I  have  been  present  at  the  inquiry  classes  in  Dublin  when 
the  avenues  of  approach  were  blocked  up  by  the  crowds, 
eager  to  gain  admission  to  the  overthronged  room  in  which 
the  fortress  of  Romanism  in  that  city  is  being  undermined 
by  the  diligent  search  into  the  doctrines  of  God's  Word. 

It  does  not  come  within  the  scope  of  this  sketch 
to  inquire  how  far  the  Irish  Church  Missions  have 
fulfilled  the  promise  of  their  opening  years.  The 
disestablishment  and  disendowment  of  the  Irish 
Church,  which  have  crippled  its  resources,  have  in 
some  degree  altered  the  responsibility  of  that  Church 
towards  the  Romanists ;  but  still  the  work  of  the 
Irish  Church  Mission  goes  forward,  not  without 
signs  of  encouragement ;  and  the  friends  of  the 
society  were  cheered  by  the  appointment  of  Lord 
Plunket  to  the  archbishopric  of  Dublin,  as  one  who 
has  always  had  warm  sympathy  with  its  view  of 
the  wider  obligation  of  the  Irish  Church. 

I  have  quoted  this  passage  from  my  father's 
speech  for  two  reasons  :  first,  because  no  one  can 
understand  his  life  and  ministry  aright  without 
knowing  the  warm  interest  he  took  in  this  work, 
and  how  it  reacted  on  his  view  of  contemporary 
Church  questions  at  home  ;  and  again,  because  the 
closing  portion  is  a  sample  of  my  father's  power 
as  a  platform  speaker. 

During  his  ministry  at  Clapham  and  St.  Giles's, 
much  of  his  spare  time  was  devoted  to  the  deputa- 
tion of  the  society  in  many  of  the  large  towns  in 


CLAP  HAM  RE-VISITED.  55 

England  ;  and  it  was  in  this  capacity  that  he  first 
made  the  acquaintance  of  some  of  the  Ripon  clergy 
at  a  meeting  held  in  Bradford  in  1856. 

No  sketch  of  my  father's  work  at  Clapham 
would  be  complete  without  a  notice  of  an  institution 
in  which  he  took  the  deepest  interest.  The  British 
Orphan  Asylum,  which  now  stands  opposite  the 
Great  Western  Station  at  Slough,  was  then  located 
on  Clapham  Rise,  and  my  father  acted  as 
honorary  chaplain  to  it.  He  used  to  conduct  a 
service  there  each  Saturday  night,  giving  an  address 
to  the  children.  And  in  after-days  he  had  fre- 
quently the  comfort  of  hearing  how  gratefully  his 
words  of  counsel  were  remembered  by  those  who 
were  thus  brought  under  his  influence. 

He  was  never  weary  of  advocating  the  claims 
of  the  Orphanage  in  London  pulpits ;  and  his  power 
of  pleading  earnestly  for  charitable  purposes,  which 
was  so  useful  in  his  episcopal  work,  was  discovered 
and  developed  in  connection  with  this  and  similar 
societies,  whose  practical  philanthropy  was  so  near 
his  heart. 

To  complete  this  chapter,  perhaps  the  best  idea 
of  what  the  affection  of  the  Clapham  people  for  my 
father  was,  is  given  in  the  following  letter,  written 
to  my  mother,  when  he  had  the  happiness  of 
revisiting  St.  John's  in  1858.  He  was  staying  in 
London,  and  writes  from  the  House  of  Lords  :— 

I  had  a  pleasant  day  yesterday.  In  the  morning 
I  preached  for  Burgess,  at  Chelsea.  He  is  always  very  kind, 
and  seemed  pleased  at  my  preaching  for  him.  There  was 
a  very  large  congregation,  several  M.P.'s,  and,  amongst 
others,  the  solicitor-general,  etc.  I  preached  a  written 


56       LIFE    OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

sermon  on  the  Rainbow,  and  then  made  an  extempore 
appeal  for  the  Charity.  Burgess  seemed  grateful,  and 'said 
the  case  had  never  been  so  clearly  stated  to  the  congrega- 
tion before.  I  came  home  afterwards,  had  luncheon,  and 
remained  in  my  room  all  the  afternoon  ;  dined  between  five 
and  six,  and  at  six  I  went  to  Clapham.  Somehow  I  had 
not  expected  a  great  crowd  there,  but  when  I  got  to 
Kennington  I  soon  suspected  what  it  would  be.  The 
people  were  pouring  along  the  roads  in  crowds,  and,  in  its 
most  crowded  days  of  yore,  I  never  saw  poor  St.  John's 
fuller.  Every  seat  full ;  the  aisles,  double  columns  of 
people  all  the  way  up,  and  people  standing  up  the  middle 
aisle.  It  was  a  work  of  time  and  difficulty  to  get  up  the 
aisle,  and  you  may  imagine  what  a  crushing  the  lawn 
sleeves  got !  All  my  old  friends  seemed  to  be  there  ; 
even  my  old  churchwarden  Hill  was  in  his  old  place.  .  .  . 
It  seemed  to  me  like  a  dream,  so  like  what  it  was  in 
times  past.  The  B.'s  were  there,  Mr.  B.  in  his  father's  old 
place,  and  all  the  E.'s.  I  was  very  glad  I  had  not  a  written 
sermon.  I  preached  from  St.  John  xiv.  6.  They  were  very 
attentive.  I  think  the  sermon  was  nearly  fifty  minutes, 
and  we  closed  with  "  All  hail  the  power  of  Jesus'  name." 
Mr.  Bed  dome  came  into  the  vestry  afterwards,  very  affec- 
tionate, and  much  moved  by  the  whole  scene.  Perhaps 
it  would  not  be  well  to  occur  often,  but  it  made  me  feel 
what  a  golden  opportunity  God  gave  rne  in  those  years  of 
my  life  when  I  was  in  that  sphere.  Oh  that  I  had  done 
more  for  His  glory !  I  looked  to  the  old  corner  where  my 
heart's  treasure  used  to  sit.  F.  sat  in  our  pew.  One  could 
almost  fancy  it  was  old  times,  and  that  we  had  been  going 
afterwards  to  our  wee  house  in  Bedford  Place.  ...  I  had 
a  nice  note  from  poor  old  Miss  B.,  regretting  that  she 
cannot  get  out  to  church,  and  enclosing  IQS.  for  the  col- 
lection ; — this,  by  the  way,  amounted  to  £37  18^.,  which 
they  thought  very  good  for  the  evening.  To-night  I  have 
to  preach  at  Spitalfields,  at  eight.  Indeed,  I  almost  wish 
I  had  a  service  every  night  It  seems  nearly  the  only  way 
in  which  I  can  be  doing  any  good  in  London. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

ST.     GILES'S,     1851-1857. 

Rector  of  St.  Giles's— Organisation  of  an  overgrown  parish— Secular 
and  sanitary  work — Strong  views  on  the  connection  between  the 
physical  condition  of  the  people  and  spiritual  work — The  possi- 
bilities of  vast  improvement — What  the  Church  has  done  for 
London — A  sudden  diminution  of  income  and  providential  supply 
of  temporal  wants — Offer  of  canonry  at  Salisbury  and  other  pre- 
ferment— Lay  work  and  district  visitors — A  controversial  class  for 
inquiring  Romanists. 

DURING  the  time  of  his  residence  at  Clapham  my 
father  received  the  offer  of  several  other  livings, 
and  amongst  them  was  a  very  important  post  in  the 
diocese  of  Ripon,  the  rectory  of  Richmond.  This 
was  in  the  gift  of  his  uncle,  Lord  Langdale,  who  at 
that  time  was  one  of  the  commissioners  who  held 
the  Great  Seal.  The  fair  country  town  which  stands 
so  grandly  on  the  banks  of  the  Swale,  with  its  grim 
Castle  and  fine  old  parish  church,  was  certainly  an 
attractive  spot ;  but  my  father  had  no  mind  to 
exchange  his  busy  life  at  Clapham,  with  its  manifold 
opportunities  of  external  usefulness  in  London,  for 
a  post  of  comparative  ease.  Not  long  afterwards, 
however,  he  was  offered  by  Lord  Truro,  who  had 
succeeded  to  the  vacant  Woolsack,  the  important 
rectory  of  St.  Giles-in-the-Fields. 


58        LIFE    OF  BISHOP   ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

Thirty  years  ago  the  duties  of  the  Rector  of 
St.  Giles's  were  formidable  enough.  The  popula- 
tion was  about  forty  thousand,  and  round  about  the 
church  there  lay  a  dense  mass  of  pauperism  and 
crime,  like  a  festering  sore  in  the  heart  of  London. 
It  was  more  like  a  little  missionary  diocese  than 
the  care  of  a  single  parish  priest. 

The  existing  spiritual  agency  for  grappling  with 
this  great  task  was  wholly  inadequate. 

One  rector,  one  curate,  one  Scripture-reader,  had 
been  the  representatives  of  the  Church's  efforts  to 
evangelise  and  shepherd  a  flock  which  needed  an 
immense  amount  of  loving  labour  if  they  were  to  be 
kept,  in  any  sense,  within  the  fold  of  Christ. 

But  this  was  not  all  for  which  the  rector  of  the 
great  town-parish  was  held  responsible ;  for  his 
energy  and  strength  were  taxed  by  an  amount  of 
work  which  really  formed  no  part  of  clerical  duty. 
The  government  of  the  whole  district  was  in  the 
hands  of  a  select  Vestry,  of  which  the  rector  was 
cx-officio  chairman,  who,  if  he  was  to  do  his  duty, 
must  spend  hours  of  valuable  time  in  considering 
questions  of  lighting,  paving,  and  draining  a  tract 
of  London  quite  sufficient  to  form  an  independent 
municipality. 

It  was  no  wonder  my  father  shrank  from  such 
a  task ;  and  it  was  not  without  a  very  serious 
wrench  that  he  left  a  work  so  full  of  happiness,  and 
a  congregation  so  generous  and  sympathetic,  as  that 
of  St.  John's. 

He  recalls  in  his  diary  a  touching  scene  on  the 
day  when  he  announced  to  the  congregation  that 
he  was  about  to  leave  them.  After  the  morning 


PAROCHIAL    ORGANISATION.  59 

service,  in  response  to  his  invitation,  thirteen  or 
fourteen  of  the  leading  parishioners  met  him  in  the 
vestry.  He  told  them  of  his  decision.  They  uttered 
no  reproach,  and  all  felt  he  was  right  to  accept  the 
post ;  but  one  gentleman  expressed  the  feeling  of 
them  all,  when  he  asked  my  father  to  unite  with 
them  in  prayer,  that  God  would  send  them  a  faithful 
minister  to  fill  his  place. 

The  kindness  of  the  people  of  St.  John's  was 
unfailing;  and  not  content  with  giving  the  usual 
testimonials  of  their  affectionate  regret  when  my 
father  left  them,  they  agreed  to  provide  him  with 
funds  to  further  his  work  at  St.  Giles's. 

If  the  years  spent  at  Clapham  had  drawn  out 
my  father's  capacity  as  a  preacher,  the  rectory  of 
St.  Giles's  afforded  scope  for  talents  of  a  different, 
and  perhaps  a  higher  order.  He  was  by  no  means 
content  with  the  comparatively  easy  task  of  filling 
his  church,  for  in  London  an  able  preacher  is  sure 
of  a  large  congregation  ;  but  he  set  himself  reso- 
lutely to  face  the  gigantic  problem  of  how  to  reach 
the  masses  under  his  care,  who  were  not  in  the  least 
likely  to  come  to  church  until  the  Church  had 
shown  its  capacity  for  serving  them,  and  relieving  to 
some  extent  the  hard  lot  of  their  daily  lives. 

And  my  father  began  his  work  in  no  narrow 
spirit.  Theologically  he  had  little  sympathy  with 
the  Broad  Church  party,  but  he  was  in  substantial 
practical  agreement  with  those  who  recognised  that 
the  Church  had  a  wider  mission  than  merely  to 
save  souls  in  the  world  to  come. 

He  gladly  availed  himself  of  the  right,  as  chair- 
man of  the  Vestry,  to  make  himself  acquainted  with 


60       LIFE   OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

the  secular  matters  that  were  entrusted  to  that  body. 
The  remarkable  business  talents  he  displayed,  and 
his  singular  grasp  of  detail,  were  cultivated  and  de- 
veloped by  this  experience.  In  later  days  Yorkshire 
laymen  were  often  surprised  at  the  aptitude  their 
Bishop  showed  for  deciding  problems,  with  which 
they  not  unjustly  considered  the  clergy  are  generally 
incompetent  to  deal ;  and  the  secret  was  the  train- 
ing he  had  received  in  the  patient  discharge  of  his 
duty  in  the  Vestry  of  St.  Giles's.  In  the  course  of  a 
lecture  which  he  delivered  to  the  Leeds  Philosophical 
Society  in  1860,  my  father  showed  the  robust  and 
practical  view  he  took  of  the  obligations  of  the 
Church,  and  the  clergyman's  duty  towards  the 
squalor  and  misery  of  the  dense  populations  and 
overcrowded  dwellings  of  great  towns.  He  says — 

For  several  years  it  was  my  lot,  as  a  parochial  clergy- 
man, to  live  in  one  of  the  densely  populated  metropolitan 
parishes.  The  population  was  little  short  of  forty  thousand. 
A  large  proportion  consisted  of  the  poorest  classes.  Within 
the  limits  of  that  parish  it  might  have  been  easy  at  any 
time  to  meet  with  every  type  and  form  of  social,  moral, 
and  physical  degradation.  Various  practical  measures  had 
been  adopted  with  a  view  to  counteract  the  manifold  evils 
which  existed  in  every  direction.  Thus  we  had  churches, 
clergymen,  schools,  ragged  schools,  district  visitors,  Scrip- 
ture-readers, and  city  missionaries  all  in  active  operation. 
Other  remedial  efforts  had  also  been  tried,  and  happily 
not  altogether  in  vain.  The  provisions  of  the  Common 
Lodging  Houses  Act  and  the  Nuisance  Removal  Act 
were,  so  far  as  practicable,  enforced.  Baths  and  wash- 
houses  were  also  erected,  from  which  great  good  resulted  ; 
and  yet,  in  spite  of  all  these  efforts,  it  was  too  painfully 
evident  that  there  still  remained  a  dense  mass  of  the 
population  unreached  and  unbenefited — a  multitude  of 


CONDITION  OF   THE  POOR.  6 1 

our  fellow-parishioners,  fellow-immortals,  upon  whom  all 
attempts  for  their  social  or  moral  amelioration  were  appa- 
rently so  much  wasted  energy. 

It  was  their  physical  condition,  as  to  the  wretched  dwell- 
ings in  which  they  lived,  which  paralysed  the  action  of  the 
clergyman,  the  schoolmaster,  the  Scripture-reader,  and  the  city 
missionary.  Till  this  was  remedied  I  could  see  little  pros- 
pect of  permanent  benefit.  We  must  cease  to  do  evil,  that 
we  may  learn  to  do  well.  Mind  and  matter  are  closely 
connected ;  and  the  moral  constitution,  like  the  mental, 
may  be  elevated  and  depressed  according  to  the  material 
influences  to  which  it  is  constantly  exposed. 

He  goes  on  to  urge  the  importance  of  studying 
the  actual  condition  of  the  masses  in  the  provincial 
towns,  no  less  than  in  London.  Now  that  the 
housing  of  the  poor  and  the  condition  of  the  people 
is  the  question  of  the  hour,  no  excuse  is  needed  for 
these  rather  lengthy  extracts  ;  which  are  given  in  the 
hope  that  they  may  quicken  the  zeal  of  clergy  and 
laity  alike  in  the  discharge  of  a  very  important  part 
of  their  duty. 

In  describing  the  class  of  persons  with  whom  he 
had  to  deal,  my  father  says — 

The  district  is  composed  mainly  of  those  who  reside  in 
narrow  alleys,  courts,  and  lanes,  closely  packed  together  in 
houses  ill-ventilated,  with  no  adequate  provision  for  the 
access  of  air  or  light — two  of  the  most  important  requisites 
for  the  preservation  of  health,  —  badly  drained,  with  no 
adequate  supply  of  water,  no  arrangements  for  securing 
domestic  privacy,  or  that  separation  of  the  sexes  which  a 
regard  to  the  first  principles  of  morality  demands  ;  a  class 
amongst  whom  you  meet  with  persons  who  seem  utterly 
devoid  of  all  moral  sense ;  in  whom  conscience  is  seared  ; 
who  live  in  defiance  alike  of  religious  control  or  obligation  ; 
to  whom  all  days  are  alike ;  in  whose  creed  theft  is  no 


62        LIFE    OF  BISHOP   ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

crime,  immorality  no  disgrace,  intemperance  no  reproach  ; 
who  know  nothing  of  self-control  or  self-respect ;  who  see 
nothing  degrading  in  falsehood,  and  whose  standard  of 
superiority  is  dexterity  in  crime  ;  persons  who  never  use 
the  Name  of  God  but  to  blaspheme  ;  who  are  as  ignorant 
of  Christianity  as  if  their  lot  had  been  amongst  the  unevan- 
gelised  heathen  ;  who  regard  the  distinctions  of  society  as 
simply  a  combination  of  the  rich  to  oppress  the  poor ; 
whose  only  regard  to  the  law  is  inspired  by  some  lingering 
dread  of  its  penalties,  and  of  whom,  as  regards  their  moral 
condition,  the  description  which  an  inspired  Apostle  gave  of 
the  Gentile  population  is  strictly  accurate — "  They  have  no 
hope,  and  are  without  God  in  the  world." 

All  this  may  appear  exaggerated  ;  but  I  venture  to 
affirm  it  will  appear  so  to  none  who  will  be  at  the  pains  to 
investigate  for  themselves. 

Of  course  it  is  not  intended  that  all  these  features  of 
moral  debasement  are  presented  alike  in  every  member 
of  the  class  to  which  the  description  applies;  but  of  its 
general  accuracy,  I  scarcely  believe  that  any  one  who  is 
qualified  by  experience  to  give  an  opinion  will  for  a 
moment  doubt. 

In  the  course  of  the  same  paper  there  follow 
statistics  to  show  the  overcrowded  condition  of  the 
Metropolis  at  large,  which  are  no  longer  interesting, 
as,  in  spite  of  much  recent  improvement,  there  are 
facts  equally  distressing  still  before  our  minds ;  but 
some  figures  with  regard  to  the  parish  of  St.  Giles's 
show  the  nature  of  the  work  my  father  undertook. 

"  In  one  street,"  he  says,  "  there  were  thirteen  houses  in 
a  row,  containing  a  population  of  1 300,  or  an  average  of 
one  hundred  to  each  house.  In  another  lane  in  the  same 
parish,  there  were  thirty-two  houses,  containing  in  all  190 
rooms.  Till  the  provisions  of  the  Common  Lodging 
Houses  Act  were  enforced,  the  number  of  persons  inhabit- 
ing those  thirty-two  houses  was  1710.  The  average  number 


COST  AND   CONTAGION  OF   VICE.  63 

living  and  sleeping  in  each  room  was  nine,  but  in  many  of 
the  rooms  the  number  was  nearly  twice  as  great.  In  a 
Return  which  was  printed  by  order  of  the  House  of  Com- 
mons in  1851,  it  is  stated  by  Mr.  Grainger,  that  he  found 
in  a  certain  street  as  many  as  eighteen  or  twenty  persons 
living  in  one  room.  There  is  a  place  in  the  parish  of  St. 
Giles-in-the-Fields  called  Short's  Gardens.  A  man  hired 
a  house  in  that  quarter,  for  which  he  was  to  pay  £i  a 
week.  He  immediately  sub-let  one  of  the  rooms  for  12s. 
to  one  set  of  lodgers,  who  used  it  by  day,  and  to  another 
set  of  lodgers  for  12s.  a  week,  who  used  it  by  night,  thus 
realising  by  the  sub-letting  of  one  room  more  than  he  paid 
for  the  whole  house." 

There  follows  a  forcible  statement  of  the  direct 
connection  between  this  state  of  things  and  the 
prevalence  of  epidemic  disease  ;  for  my  father's  mind 
used  often  to  revert  to  its  early  medical  bias ;  and 
while  he  was  labouring  to  be  a  true  physician  of  the 
soul,  he  never  forgot  that  it  is  of  the  essence  of 
Christlike  work  to  labour  for  the  "  redemption  of 
the  body." 

He  gives  an  instance,  drawn  from  his  own 
observation,  of  the  fearful  contagion  of  vice  :— 

The  father  of  the  family,  up  to  the  time  of  his  death, 
was  a  practical  thief;  the  eldest  daughter  lived  on  the 
wages  of  infamy ;  the  eldest  son  was  a  convict  under 
sentence  of  transportation  for  fourteen  years.  The  second 
brother  was  also  a  convict  under  sentence  of  transportation. 
The  third  brother,  who,  at  the  time  of  which  I  speak,  was 
only  nineteen  years  of  age,  had  been  a  thief  for  five  years, 
and  in  prison  eight  times.  Imagine  the  cost  of  such  a 
family  to  the  country.  It  is  said  that  every  prisoner  costs, 
while  in  prison,  at  the  rate  of  from  £4.0  to  £50  a  year. 
The  Pentonville  prison  alone  costs  £100,000  a  year.  At 
a  reformatory  institution  which  I  occasionally  visited  in 


64       LIFE   OF  BISHOP    ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

London,  there  were  at  one  time  one  hundred  inmates. 
The  amount  of  money  which  had  been  stolen  by  these 
men,  as  proved  by  evidence,  was  not  less  than  ^"76,400. 
The  aggregate  number  of  years  spent  in  prison  had  been 
one  hundred  and  eighty ;  and  the  expense  incurred 
through  their  imprisonment  was  computed  at  £4500.  Thus 
the  crime  of  these  one  hundred  men  had  cost  the  public 
and  the  country  at  the  lowest  estimate  £80,900. 

Now,  if  there  were  only  a  faint  probability  that  the 
physical  condition  of  the  people  could  have  anything  to  do 
with  the  several  points  to  which  I  have  alluded — public 
health  or  sickness,  the  crime  of  intemperance,  or  the  im- 
morality of  the  community — it  would  be  a  case  demanding 
investigation ;  but  when  it  is  morally  certain  that  the 
health  of  the  whole  population  is  endangered,  that  crime 
of  every  sort,  drunkenness,  and  immorality,  are  fostered  by 
this  cause,  surely  it  is  a  matter  which  ought  to  engage  the 
attention  of  the  wise  and  good,  of  politicians,  philosophers, 
magistrates,  ministers  of  religion,  of  all  who  have  a  heart 
to  feel  or  any  influence  to  exert. 

These  fearful  pictures  of  misery  and  crime  would 
be  enough  to  drive  one  mad,  were  it  not  for  the 
practical  results  which  can  be  shown  to  have  attended 
the  efforts  made  to  combine  sanitary  and  social  im- 
provements with  the  all-powerful  instrument  of  the 
Gospel  of  Christ. 

My  father  insists  in  conclusion — 

It  is  no  unreal  or  unattainable  result  to  which  we  may 
look  forward — the  converting  the  dwellings  of  the  millions 
into  dwellings  where  morality  and  peace  and  contentment 
and  godliness  may  abide. 

I  have  seen,  in  courts  that  were  once  the  receptacle 
of  all  that  was  materially  abominable  and  morally  vile, 
this  amazing  transformation  ;  a  transformation,  moreover, 
effected  at  a  comparatively  small  cost,  and  that  outlay 
actually  remunerative. 


DIMINUTION  OF  INCOME.  65 

Thank  God,  there  is  to-day  a  widespread  zeal  for 
the  cause  of  God  and  the  poor,  in  London  and  other 
large  towns,  that  has  never  been  surpassed,  and  the 
bitter  cry  of  outcast  London  has  reached  the  hearts 
of  many  who  were  long  careless  of  the  needs  of  those 
less  fortunate  than  themselves ;  but  in  days  of  new- 
born enthusiasm  it  is  well  to  recollect  that  there  has 
been  for  many  years  a  steady,  and  on  the  whole  suc- 
cessful, effort  put  forward  by  the  Church.  If  the 
Gospel  of  Christ  has  not  expelled  the  glaring  sins  of 
our  great  cities,  at  least  the  salt  has  been  thrown  in 
which  has  hindered  London  from  perishing  in  one 
mass  of  corruption.  And  the  record  of  all  honest 
effort,  whether  of  a  Lowder  at  St.  Peter's,  London 
Docks,  or  of  work  like  that  of  St.  Giles's  and  many 
another  London  church,  is  as  full  of  hope  as  it  is 
full  of  inspiration. 

Before  attempting  to  give  some  account  of  the 
parochial  work  at  St.  Giles's,  and  of  the  organisation 
my  father  was  enabled  to  set  on  foot,  we  must  refer 
to  an  incident  which  greatly  affected  my  father's 
future  career.  It  is  best  told  in  his  own  words  :— 

About  the  year  1854  what  at  the  first  appeared  a 
calamity  befell  me.  An  Act  of  Parliament  had  been  passed 
by  the  Government  for  putting  an  end  to  intramural  inter- 
ments, and  under  the  provisions  of  the  act  the  cemetery 
belonging  to  St.  Giles's,  from  which  the  greater  part  of  the 
rectorial  income  was  derived,  was  closed.  No  compensation 
whatever  was  provided,  and  the  income  of  the  rectory  was 
suddenly  diminished  from  at  least  £1400  to  about  £400  a 
year,  a  sum  upon  which  it  was  impossible  to  maintain  the 
position.  I  wish  here  to  record  the  goodness  of  God  more 
especially  displayed  in  answer  to  prayer.  Within  a  few 
weeks  of  its  becoming  generally  known  what  a  loss  I  had 

F 


66        LIFE   OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

sustained,  I  received  from  Mr.  Courthope  (a  gentleman 
with  whom  I  had  not  the  least  personal  acquaintance)  the 
offer  of  the  living  of  Brenchley,  in  Kent.  It  was  a  valuable 
living  in  a  beautiful  part  of  the  country,  near  to  Tunbridge 
Wells.  Mr.  Courthope  made  the  offer  in  a  most  generous 
way,  expressing  his  readiness  to  do  anything  towards 
enlarging  the  house  if  I  wished  it. 

There  was  much  about  the  proposal  which  appeared 
at  first  sight  to  make  it  my  duty  to  accept  the  appointment. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  vast  population  of  St.  Giles's  and  the 
fact  that  the  blessing  of  God  was  apparently  resting  on  my 
ministry,  made  me  most  unwilling  to  leave.  Accordingly, 
I  thanked  Mr.  Courthope  gratefully  for  his  offer,  and 
requested  a  fortnight's  time  for  consideration.  In  the 
mean  time  my  beloved  wife  and  myself  made  it  a  matter  of 
constant  daily  prayer  that  it  would  please  God  to  show  us 
His  Will  in  the  matter. 

In  the  course  of  a  few  days  a  leading  publisher  in 
London  called  upon  me,  to  ask  if  I  would  undertake  the 
nominal  editorship  of  a  biographical  series  which  he  was 
about  to  bring  out,  and  which  he  wished  to  connect  with 
the  name  of  some  well-known  clergyman.  The  salary  he 
offered  was  £300  a  year,  certainly  for  five  years  and  possibly 
for  much  longer.  I  could  not  but  regard  this  as  an  indica- 
tion of  Providence  that  my  wants  would  be  graciously 
provided  for ;  but  still  it  did  not  plainly  follow  that  I  was 
to  go  into  the  country,  although,  under  one  point  of  view, 
it  might  be  thought  that  a  country  living  would  afford 
more  leisure  for  literary  employment.  We  still  continued 
our  prayer  that  God  would  show  us  what  to  do,  and  strange 
to  relate,  the  same  week  a  gentleman  called  upon  me  from 
the  committee  of  the  Foundling  Hospital,  to  offer  me  the 
Sunday  afternoon  Lectureship  of  that  Institution. 

The  income  arising  from  the  two  offers  thus  mentioned 
would  have  enabled  me  to  retain  my  position  in  St.  Giles's, 
although  at  the  risk  of  being  somewhat  overworked.  My 
mind  was  made  up  at  once,  and  within  an  hour  of  my 
receiving  the  offer  of  the  Foundling  I  wrote  to  Mr. 


CANONRY  AT  SALISBURY.  6j 

Courthope,  declining  the  offer  of  Brenchley,  and  announced 
to  him  my  intention  of  remaining  in  St.  Giles's. 

This  being  decided,  my  first  impulse  was  to  go  and  see 
my  dear  friend,  Mr.  Montagu  Villiers  (afterwards  Bishop 
of  Carlisle),  who  had  taken  a  warm  interest  in  the  whole 
matter.  He  expressed  his  unqualified  gratification  with 
the  decision  at  which  I  had  arrived.  My  interview  with 
him  lasted  only  a  few  minutes,  and  I  returned  to  my  house 
in  Gower  Street.  In  the  brief  interval  since  I  left  I  found 
that  Sir  Culling  Eardley  had  called,  and  left  a  message  to 
the  effect  that  he  was  leaving  town,  but  wished  to  see  me 
before  doing  so.  His  carriage  was  at  the  door  to  convey 
me  down  to  Adam  Street,  Adelphi,  where  he  had  gone.  I 
immediately  went  thither,  and  my  surprise  and  thankful- 
ness may  be  imagined,  when  he  told  me  that  his  object 
in  wishing  to  see  me  was  to  convey  a  message  from  the 
Lord  Chancellor  (then  Lord  Cranworth)  that  the  Govern- 
ment had  determined  to  appoint  me  to  a  canonry  in  Salis- 
bury, then  vacant  by  the  appointment  of  Dr.  Hamilton  to 
the  bishopric  of  that  city.  There  was  a  degree  of  un- 
certainty whether  the  appointment  was  vested  in  the  Prime 
Minister  (then  Lord  Aberdeen)  or  the  Lord  Chancellor  ;  but 
in  either  case  the  canonry  was  to  be  mine.  Such  was  the 
unexpected  relief  which,  in  the  Providence  of  God,  set  my 
mind  free  from  all  anxiety  with  regard  to  my  stay  at  St. 
Giles's. 

I  declined  the  Preachership  at  the  Foundling,  and 
resolved  to  devote  all  my  energies  to  the  work  in  St.  Giles's 
and  the  duties  connected  with  my  new  office  in  Salisbury. 

The  canonry  at  Salisbury  set  my  father  free  from 
pecuniary  anxiety,  and  enabled  him  to  devote  his 
undivided  attention  to  the  cure  of  St.  Giles's.  The 
details  of  the  work  are  full  of  interest,  but  are  not 
very  different  from  the  system  of  parochial  work 
now  happily  general ;  it  should,  however,  be  borne 
in  mind  that  the  best  specimens  of  parish  work 


68        LIFE    OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

to-day  are  seen  in  parishes  where  the  population  is, 
at  most,  not  greater  than  10,000  or  12,000. 

My  father  carried  with  him  to  St.  Giles's  the  ideal 
of  being  in  a  real  sense  the  shepherd  and  overseer 
of  the  37,000  souls  committed  to  his  care.  The 
Evangelical  tradition  which  he  had  learned  at  Acton 
was  to  bring  the  parish  priest,  if  possible,  into  direct 
contact  with  each  family.  At  St.  Giles's,  then,  he  did 
not  set  himself  to  evangelise  a  small  fraction  of  the 
whole,  but  at  once  set  on  foot  a  complete  system  of 
house  to  house  visitation. 

The  number  of  clergy  working  in  the  parish 
towards  the  close  of  my  father's  incumbency  was 
seven.  The  whole  parish  was  mapped  out  into 
districts,  and  a  staff  of  no  less  than  eleven  Scripture- 
readers  and  city  missionaries  were  paid  exclusively 
for  spiritual  work  amongst  the  poor  and  destitute 
classes.  Each  reader  was  personally  responsible 
to  the  rector,  and  was  summoned  to  meet  him 
every  fortnight  in  the  vestry.  As  often  as  possible 
the  rector  would  accompany  the  readers  into  the 
worst  parts  of  the  parish,  and  so  become  familiar 
with  every  class  of  his  parishioners.  In  the  course 
of  his  annual  report  in  1856,  he  justifies  this  method 
to  those  of  his  parishioners  who  were  doubtful  of 
the  value  of  such  lay  ministrations.  He  says — 

At  the  first,  I  believe,  there  was  a  misgiving  as  to  its 
probable  results.  Some  thought  that  the  employment  of 
lay  agents  to  read  the  Scriptures  to  the  poor  and  to  visit 
from  house  to  house,  might  insensibly  have  the  effect  of 
weakening  their  attachment  to  the  Church.  Five  years' 
experience  of  the  working  of  the  agency  in  the  parish 
ought  to  have  scattered  their  objections  to  the  winds.  So 


WORK    OF  LAY  AGENTS.  69 

far  from  weakening  their  attachment  to  the  Church,  this 
agency  has  kindled  an  attachment  where  it  never  existed 
before,  and  only  confirmed  it  when  it  did  ;  it  has  given 
practical  evidence  to  the  poor  of  the  sympathy  which  is 
felt  for  their  spiritual  wants,  on  the  part  of  those  who  love 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  In  very  many  cases  it  has  led  the 
careless  and  the  unconverted  to  inquire  and  seek  after  the 
things  which  belong  to  their  peace.  The  visits  of  these 
agents  are  purely  of  a  spiritual  character  ;  they  go  to  the 
poor  in  no  other  capacity  and  on  no  other  errand  than  as 
messengers  of  the  Gospel.  There  is  nothing  to  make  their 
visits  attractive  but  the  simple  fact  that  they  are  for  a 
spiritual  object,  to  read  the  Word  of  God,  and  point  out 
the  way  of  salvation  through  faith  in  Jesus.  And  yet  it 
would  be  impossible  to  find  a  body  of  men  whose  visits 
are  more  welcome  or  whose  labours  are  more  successful. 

It  has  been  my  privilege  repeatedly  to  go  with  them 
(though  not  so  often  by  far  as  I  could  have  wished),  and 
I  have  witnessed  the  cheerfulness  with  which  they  are 
welcomed,  even  in  some  places  where,  a  few  years  ago, 
when  their  work  was  less  understood  or  appreciated,  they 
would  have  met  with  insult  or  repulse.  Of  all  agencies 
for  the  spiritual  good  of  the  parish,  there  is  not  any  which 
exceeds  in  value  that  of  the  Scripture-reader  and  city 
missionary.  But  for  the  employment  of  this  agency  it 
would  be  utterly  impossible  to  bring  the  dense  masses  of 
our  poor  under  systematic  visitation  ;  as  it  is  there  is  no 
portion  of  the  parish  (I  allude,  of  course,  to  those  parts  of 
the  parish  which  are  inhabited  by  the  poorer  classes)  which 
is  not  included  within  some  district  assigned  to  one  or 
another  of  our  lay  agents. 

It  was  of  the  essence  of  this  scheme  that  the 
ministrations  of  Scripture-readers  should  be  of  a 
purely  spiritual  character,  while  the  alms  of  the 
Church  for  the  relief  of  temporal  distress  were 
administered  through  a  separate  organisation.  A 


70       LIFE   OF  BISHOP   ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

number  of  ladies  devoted  almost  their  whole  time, 
and  worked  with  the  same  devotion  as  the  members 
of  Sisterhoods  and  Deaconess  institutions  who  now 
form  so  important  a  part  of  the  Church's  ministry. 
In  later  days  my  father  was  deeply  sensible  of  the 
value  to  the  Church  of  those  who,  for  the  love  of 
Christ,  would  sacrifice  family  ties  and  live  wholly 
amongst  the  poor.  Jealously  as  he  watched  the 
obvious  danger  of  our  Anglican  Sisterhoods  in  their 
threatened  approach  to  the  Roman  model,  he  had 
the  heartiest  appreciation  for  the  devout  spirit  and 
consecrated  lives  of  some  whom  he  knew  as  Sisters 
of  Charity.1  But  his  own  feeling  was,  I  think,  far 
more  in  favour  of  the  system  which  sends  a  lady 
fresh  from  the  purifying  influence  of  a  Christian 
home,  to  carry  with  her  into  the  poor  man's  cottage 
the  idea  of  the  home  life  at  Nazareth,  or  the  family 
at  Bethany,  where  Jesus  lodged  with  Martha,  and 
Mary,  and  Lazarus. 

This  thought  is  expressed  in  words  which  drew 
their  inspiration  from  the  singular  gladness  of  his 
own  home  life,  and  form  part  of  the  address  on  the 
physical  condition  of  the  people  which  has  been 
largely  quoted  above  :— 

Let  the  poor  learn  that  there  is  a  sympathy  felt  for 
them  amongst  the  classes  which,  in  social  rank,  are  above 
them.  Encourage,  by  all  means,  neatness,  order,  and 
cleanliness  in  the  cottages  of  the  poor.  Let  all,  as  far  as 
they  have  the  ability,  strive  to  make  the  dwellings  of  the 
poor  really  habitable  ;  worthy,  in  every  sense,  of  that 
musical  word,  "  home."  What  a  thousand  hallowing  asso- 
ciations belong  to  that  one  word  !  Which  of  us  has  not  felt 

1  My  father  willingly  accepted  the  office  of  Visitor  to  the  Sisterhood 
established  at  Horbury,  in  his  own  diocese. 


CHARITABLE  RELIEF. 


its  endearing,  ennobling,  purifying  influence  ?  Alas  !  that 
in  this  Christian  land  there  should  be  so  many  tens  of 
thousands  to  whom  that  word  home  brings  no  recollection 
of  parental  love ;  no  sweet  remembrance  of  happy  hours 
spent  under  one  roof,  sheltering  fond  and  united  hearts, 
happy  in  each  other's  love ;  no  sanctifying  memories  of 
solemn  seasons,  when,  morning  by  morning  and  evening 
hy  evening,  the  family  group  gathered  round  the  family 
altar  in  supplication  and  praise  to  the  God  and  Father  of 
us  all. 

Of  the  various  parochial  works  an  authentic 
record  remains  in  the  annual  statements  which  were 
circulated  by  the  rector  each  year.  A  map  of  the 
district,  showing  how  each  part  was  allotted  to  one 
of  the  Scripture-readers  or  members  of  the  district 
visiting  society,  is  evidence  of  the  care  with  which 
the  whole  was  superintended  ;  and  the  subscription 
lists  show  how  heartily  the  congregation  attending  the 
church  supported  the  various  works  for  the  ameliora- 
tion of  the  condition  of  their  poorer  neighbours. 

It  appears  from  the  report  for  1856  that  the 
district  visiting  society  had  in  the  previous  year 
expended  ^513,  most  of  which  was  distributed  in 
kind,  and  money  was  only  given  directly  in  some 
urgent  cases.  Over  and  above  this,  upwards  of^i  10 
was  spent  on  a  maternity  charity  managed  by  Mrs. 
Bickersteth,  and  at  the  same  time  ^250  was  raised 
by  voluntary  subscriptions  for  the  National  Schools. 
Nor  did  these  charities  begin  and  end  at  home. 
My  father  was  an  enthusiastic  supporter  of  the 
Ragged  Schools  so  justly  connected  with  the  great 
name  of  Lord  Shaftesbury,  and  for  this  object,  in 
the  year  1855,  a  sum  of  ^702  was  remitted  by  the 
congregation  of  St.  Giles's. 


72        LIFE    OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

In  the  last  year  of  his  stay  in  London  the  contri- 
butions towards  the  Church  Missionary  Society  had 
reached  £j6,  and  to  the  Irish  Church  Missions 


The  offertories  in  church  were  always  exceed- 
ingly liberal,  and  ;£6o,  £jo,  or  ^80  were  often 
raised  by  what  in  those  days  was  termed  a  Charity 
Sermon.  Amongst  the  great  variety  of  classes  and 
institutions  to  which  allusion  is  made  in  the  annual 
report,  appears  one  which  forms  an  unusual  feature. 
Each  Tuesday  night  a  controversial  class  for  inquiring 
Romanists  was  held  in  the  vestry.  In  1855  the 
rector  was  able  to  report  — 

The  controversial  class  for  Romanists  continues  to  be 
well  attended.  Many  cases  of  conversion  have  occurred  in 
the  course  of  the  past  year,  in  which  there  is  reason  to 
believe  there  has  been  not  only  a  turning  from  the  errors 
and  superstitions  of  Romanism,  but  also  a  real  turning  of 
the  heart  to  God. 

Many  people  are  inclined  to  think  that  a  clergy- 
man in  charge  of  a  vast  town  population  is  entitled 
to  wipe  off  all  responsibility  for  a  large  section  of 
his  parishioners,  if  he  can  comfort  himself  with  the 
assurance  that  they  are  sufficiently  cared  for  by  the 
Roman  priesthood  ;  but  if  it  be  the  business  of  a 
clergyman  to  reclaim  those  who  are  wandering  from 
the  Church  in  the  direction  of  Protestant  Dissent,  it 
must  be  no  less  a  duty  to  do  what  in  him  lies  to 
recover  those  who,  though  nominally  adherents  of 
the  Bishop  of  Rome,  are  often  the  most  degraded 
and  the  most  spiritually  destitute  of  the  souls  com- 
mitted to  his  care. 

A  candid  critic  of  the  parochial  system  at  St. 


SPIRITUAL   PROGRESS. 


73 


Giles's  is  drawn  to  the  conclusion  that  the  "  Contro- 
versial Class  for  Romanists  "  is  evidence,  not  so  much 
of  the  rector's  Protestant  bias,  as  of  his  effort  to 
leave  no  section  of  his  parishioners  beyond  the  reach 
of  the  Gospel  he  was  commissioned  to  offer  to  all 
alike. 

Behind  this  varied  organisation  there  lay  a  depth 
of  spiritual  work  of  which  it  is  difficult  to  speak. 
Neither  crowded  congregations  nor  numbers  of 
communicants  thronging  the  Holy  Table  are  a 
trustworthy  indication  of  the  life  of  God  energising 
Christian  hearts.  No  one  shrank  more  than  the 
Rector  of  St.  Giles's  from  the  thought  that  any  out- 
ward sign  could  adequately  describe  the  operation 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  Who  worketh  where  He  will. 
From  year  to  year  he  could  tell  of  an  ever-increasing 
body  of  communicants,  and  the  church  had  con- 
stantly to  be  expanded  to  receive  the  congregations 
eager  to  hear  sermons  whose  principal  charm  lay  in 
the  simplicity  and  earnestness  of  the  way  in  which 
the  preacher  sought  to  exalt  the  saving  Name  of 
Jesus. 

In  a  farewell  Address  my  father  gives  a  table 
showing  the  acts  of  Communion  of  the  five  preceding 
years,  as  follows  : — 


1852 

1853 

1854 

1855 

1856 

2885 

3387 

3670 

4128 

4289 

One  gets  nearer  to  the  subtle  charm  of  a  real 
spiritual  influence,  when  one  reads  the  recollec- 
tions of  those  who  date  strong  and  undying  con- 


74        LIFE   OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

victions   from   words   spoken   in    St.  Giles's   thirty 
years  ago. 

One  who  first  began  to  work  in  the  district  visit- 
ing society  in  1856,  and  still  carries  on  in  a  little 
mission  chapel  in  Short's  Gardens — a  work  of  self- 
denying  charity  which  God  has  greatly  blessed— 
wrote  shortly  after  my  father  entered  into  rest — 

Well  do  I  remember  in  the  autumn  of  1851,  when  the 
Rev.  J.  Endell  Tyler,  Rector  of  St.  Giles's  for  twenty-five 
years,  died  (after  having  been  laid  aside  for  two  years  from 
active  work),  the  anxiety  and  excitement  felt  throughout 
the  parish  as  to  whom  his  successor  would  be.  When  we 
heard  the  living  had  been  offered  to,  and  accepted  by  the 
Rev.  Robert  Bickersteth,  of  St.  John's,  Clapham,  the  name 
prepared  us  to  welcome  and  honour  him ;  and  when  he 
appeared  and  preached  his  first  sermon  all  our  favourable 
expectations  were  confirmed.  He  commenced  his  ministry 
on  New  Year's  Day,  1852,  and  his  first  sermon  on  Ps. 
xxxvii.  5  is  still  graven  on  our  memories.  The  holy 
expression  of  his  face,  with  his  genial  manner  and  never 
varying  kindness,  soon  won  the  affection  and  confidence 
of  his  parishioners.  Of  course  he  found  the  parish  (after 
being  so  long  without  a  head)  somewhat  out  of  order,  but 
he  soon  reorganised  it ;  and  during  the  five  short,  happy 
years  of  his  ministry  in  St.  Giles's  he  was  "  instant  in  season 
and  out  of  season,"  and  did  more  than  most  would  have 
accomplished  in  ten  years. 

One  of  his  first  appeals  was  for  district  visitors,  and 
very  soon  he  had  eight  ladies  hard  at  work ;  he  also 
obtained  a  staff  of  Scripture-readers,  in  addition  to  the  city 
missionaries  at  work  in  the  parish.  One  of  these,  Mr. 
Huston,  carried  on  his  work  for  at  least  twenty-five  years, 
and  was  looked  up  to  and  respected  as  a  father  by  the  poor 
in  St.  Giles's.  He  only  retired  when  his  health  completely 
gave  way.  Now  he  also  "  rests  from  his  labours,  but  his 
works  do  follow  him." 


RECOLLECTIONS   OF  A   PARISHIONER.  75 

Mr.  Bickersteth  put  the  Sunday  and  day  schools  on  a 
new  footing.  He  always  opened  the  Sunday  school  him- 
self, and  soon  gathered  a  large  staff  of  able,  willing  teachers, 
who  still  look  back  with  pleasure  to  the  monthly  meet- 
ings for  preparation.  The  fine  old  church  ere  long  was 
crowded  with  attentive  listeners ;  his  preaching  was  so 
simple,  earnest,  and  loving.  In  every  sermon  the  whole 
scheme  of  the  Gospel  was  unfolded  and  pressed  home  to 
the  hearts  and  consciences  of  the  hearers.  On  Whitsundays 
he  preached  an  annual  sermon  to  young  men,  and  on  those 
evenings  there  was  scarcely  standing  room  in  the  church ; 
the  pulpit  stairs  were  full,  many  standing  outside  the  doors 
and  half-way  down  the  gallery  stairs.  His  Bible  class  for 
ladies,  held  in  his  own  house  once  a  fortnight,  was  greatly 
valued  and  regularly  attended.  We  have  notes  of  all,  and 
frequently,  when  teaching  others,  refer  to,  and  are  helped  by 
them.  On  Monday  evening  the  minister  of  Christ  Church, 
Endell  Street,  Mr.  Swaine,  placed  his  church  at  his  disposal 
for  a  special  service  for  the  poor,  who  most  thoroughly 
appreciated  their  privilege.  Hundreds  thronged  in,  and 
truly  "  to  the  poor  the  Gospel  was  preached,"  with  very 
blessed  results  to  many.  He  also  had  meetings  of  the 
"Labourers'  Friendly  Society,"  to  try  and  improve  the 
dwellings  of  the  poor. 

During  the  five  years  he  was  in  St.  Giles's  he  relighted 
the  church,  rearranged  the  pews,  greatly  increasing  the 
accommodation,  and  almost  rebuilt  the  organ  at  a  con- 
siderable cost ;  the  funds  came  in  quickly  and  cheerfully, 
no  debt  incurred.  When  the  canonry  of  Salisbury  was 
accepted  by  him  all  his  parishioners  were  heartily  pleased  ; 
but  when  the  announcement  suddenly  came  that  he  was 
appointed  to  the  bishopric  of  Ripon,  and  St.  Giles's  was  to 
lose  the  rector  so  greatly  beloved,  it  was  an  effort  to  be 
able  to  rejoice ;  and  the  next  few  weeks  were  very  sad  and 
trying  to  those  about  to  be  parted  from  one  to  whom  they 
owed  so  much.  His  farewell  sermon  was  on  S.  Jude  24,  25. 

One  of  the  last  of  his  evening  sermons,  which  made  a 
great  impression  on  us,  was  on  the  text,  "  Blessed  are  they 


76        LIFE    OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

that  are  called  to  the  marriage  supper  of  the  Lamb  ; "  and 
many  of  those  who  listened  to  it  are  now  with  him  in  the 
presence  of  the  Lamb,  and  know  what  that  blessedness  is. 
Our  dear  Bishop  of  Ripon  did  not  forget  his  friends  in 
St.  Giles's,  but  was  ever  ready  to  help  them.  When  I  began 
a  "Mother's  Meeting"  in  1866,  and  wrote  to  him  on  the 
subject,  with  his  wonted  generosity  and  kindness  he  at  once 
promised  an  annual  subscription,  which  was  continued  to 
the  last ;  and  on  one  occasion  he  came  to  the  mission  room 
and  gave  a  beautiful  address  to  eighty  mothers,  who  gave 
a  hearty  welcome  to  their  former  loved  Rector  whom  they 
gratefully  remembered.  During  the  London  Mission  in 
1 874  he  occupied  his  old  pulpit  on  two  Sunday  mornings, 
besides  giving  addresses  in  the  afternoons  to  the  children 
in  the  school. 

Almost  the  last  time  I  had  the  pleasure  and  privilege 
of  speaking  to  him  was  at  Tunbridge  Wells,  in  June,  1879. 
I  had  gone  there  with  my  dear  sister,  then  in  the  first  stage 
of  her  last  illness.  To  my  great  joy  and  surprise,  the  day 
after  our  arrival  I  met  our  dear  Bishop,  who  had  come  on  a 
visit  to  some  friends  for  a  few  days.  He  welcomed  me  with 
his  usual  hearty  kindness,  came  the  next  day  and  paid  us 
a  long  visit,  and  then  proposed  coming  on  Sunday  after- 
noon to  read  the  service  for  my  sister.  She  was  deeply 
touched  with  such  thoughtful  kindness,  and  looked  eagerly 
forward  to  the  promised  treat ;  and  though  it  was  a  cold, 
wet  afternoon,  and  he  was  then  in  failing  health,  he  ap- 
peared at  the  appointed  time ;  and  a  very  happy,  blessed 
hour  we  spent  together,  the  lesson  being  i  S.  Peter  i.  As 
he  read  it  we  recalled  the  happy  hours  spent  at  the  Bible 
classes  more  than  twenty  years  before,  when  he  explained 
the  meaning  of  each  verse.  My  dear  sister  often  referred 
with  gratitude  and  pleasure  to  that  Sunday  afternoon  during 
her  long  and  suffering  illness. 

There  are  few  left  in  St.  Giles's  who  knew  him  ;  but  there 
are  many  who  will  be  his  "joy  and  crown  of  rejoicing  in 
the  day  of  our  Lord's  appearing "  to  "  count  up  His 
jewels." 


HIS  SUCCESSOR  AT  ST.    GILES'S. 


I  must  add  that  God  in  His  great  goodness  sent  to 
St.  Giles's  one1  who  carried  on  all  that  he  had  begun,  and 
continued  to  build  on  the  foundation  he  had  laid.  "One 
soweth  and  another  reapeth,  that  both  he  that  soweth  and 
he  that  reapeth  may  rejoice  together." 

C.  G.  H. 

1  My  father's  successor  at  St.  Giles's  was  the  Rev.  A.  W.  Thorold,  now 
Lord  Bishop  of  Rochester. 


CHAPTER  V. 

SALISBURY,   1854-1856. 

Residence  at  Salisbury — Intercourse  with  Bishop  Hamilton — Strict 
attention  to  cathedral  duties  —  Correspondence  with  Bishop 
Hamilton — Bible  Society,  etc. — Narrative  of  the  way  in  which 
my  father  received  the  offer  of  Ripon — Palmerstonian  bishops 
— Bishop  Ryan's  summary  of  Providential  preparation  for  the 
episcopate. 

THERE  is  a  twofold  interest  about  my  father's  resi- 
dence at  Salisbury ;  for  not  only  was  an  intimate 
acquaintance  with  the  working  of  the  cathedral 
system  a  part  of  the  Providential  preparation  for  the 
episcopate,  but  it  brought  him  into  close  contact, 
perhaps  for  the  first  time,  with  a  very  able  and 
very  attractive  representative  of  the  High  Church 
party. 

The  canonry  had  made  it  possible  for  him  to 
remain  in  St.  Giles's  in  spite  of  diminished  income, 
and  a  sojourn  for  three  months  in  that  beautiful 
country  sent  him  back  refreshed  in  mind  and  body 
for  his  arduous  work  in  London. 

Happily,  now  there  is  a  growing  feeling  that  it 
is  time  to  revert  to  the  old  ideal  of  the  cathedral 
system,  in  which  the  canons  are  engaged  exclusively 
in  diocesan  work  ;  but  the  income  of  a  canonry  was 


CANON  IN  RESIDENCE.  79 

well  spent  when  it  enabled  a  man  without  large 
private  means  to  hold  elsewhere  a  post  of  great 
importance,  which  otherwise  he  would  have  been 
obliged  to  resign. 

My  father's  conception  of  the  duties  of  a  canon 
during  his  term  of  residence  was  very  strict,  and 
nothing  was  deemed  a  sufficient  excuse  for  absence 
from  the  daily  services.  Even  when  his  father  lay 
very  ill  at  Sapcote,  it  was  a  great  surprise  to  the 
family  that  the  Canon  of  Salisbury  could  tear  him- 
self away  from  his  cathedral  engagements.  When 
in  residence,  my  father  used  to  preach  every  Sunday 
afternoon  in  the  cathedral,  and  he  was  always  ready 
to  preach  in  the  surrounding  churches  on  Sunday 
nights. 

In  the  cathedral  services  he  found  a  source  of 
keen  enjoyment,  and  though  his  experience  had  lain 
rather  amongst  those  whose  ideal  of  worship  is  a 
hearty  service  and  congregational  hymnody,  he  could 
thoroughly  appreciate  the  same  devotional  rendering 
of  the  Liturgy  which  had  charmed  George  Herbert 
after  his  walks  across  the  Plain  from  Bemerton. 

My  father's  intercourse  with  the  saintly  Bishop 
Hamilton  demands  more  than  a  passing  word.  At- 
tached by  training  and  inclination  to  widely  different 
schools  of  thought,  both  Bishop  and  Canon  were 
united  by  the  highest  of  all  bonds,  in  devotion  to 
their  common  Lord ;  and  if  it  was  an  edifying  sight 
to  notice  the  Bishop's  gladdened  expression,  and 
hear  his  ungrudging  words  of  pleasure  as  his  people 
flocked  in  unexampled  numbers  to  hear  the  new 
canon's  simple  pleadings  for  Christ,  it  is  no  less 
touching  to  observe  the  ready  deference  which  the 


8o       LIFE   OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

latter   was   well    content   to   pay  to  his  Father   in 
God. 

There  is  an  interesting  correspondence  between 
my  father  and  Bishop  Hamilton,  which  illustrates 
the  submission  to  episcopal  authority  of  the  one,  and 
the  true  Christian  courtesy  of  the  other.  Then,  as 
always,  my  father  was  a  warm  advocate  of  the  Bible 
Society  and  the  Irish  Church  Missions  to  Roman 
Catholics.  In  the  eyes  of  not  a  few  churchmen 
these  societies  had  fallen  into  disrepute,  because 
their  advocates  seemed  to  disparage  Church  order, 
and  their  operations  had  unhappily  engendered  strife. 
Bishop  Hamilton  had  expressed  a  strong  opinion  on 
the  unwisdom  of  some  of  their  methods  ;  hence  this 
letter  :— 

The  Close,  July  23,  1855. 

Dear  Lord  Bishop, — Will  you  pardon  me  for  troubling 
you  with  one  line  relative  to  the  conversation  which 
I  had  with  you  this  morning  ?  I  am  most  anxious  to 
refrain  from  anything  which  might  be  painful  to  you,  or 
have  even  the  appearance  of  a  want  of  deference  to  your 
wishes. 

After  the  strong  opinion  which  your  Lordship  has 
expressed,  relative  to  the  Irish  Church  Missions,  I  can 
take  no  part  in  any  public  meeting  for  that  Society  in 
this  place. 

But  the  point  upon  which  I  desire  to  be  clear  is  this : 
I  understand  that  the  annual  meetings  for  the  Bible 
and  Church  Pastoral  Aid  Societies  are  to  take  place  in 
Salisbury  in  the  course  of  the  ensuing  month.  Under 
ordinary  circumstances  I  should  attend  those  meetings  as 
a  matter  of  course,  as  I  did  last  year.  But  it  would  be  a 
great  relief  to  my  mind  to  be  assured  that  you  will  not 
consider  me  as  acting  contrary  to  your  wishes  in  doing  so  ; 
for  if  this  is  your  feeling,  I  shall  endeavour  to  believe  that 


CORRESPONDENCE    WITH  BISHOP   HAMILTON.      8 1 

the  cause  of  Christ  will   be  better  promoted   by  my  re- 
fraining from  taking  any  part  in  these  meetings. 
Believe  me  to  remain,  dear  Lord  Bishop, 

Very  faithfully  yours, 

R.  BlCKERSTETH. 

The  Bishop  replied — 

Palace,  Sarum,  July  24,  1855. 

Dear  Canon  Bickersteth, — I  have  just  received  your 
considerate  and  Christian  letter.  I  am,  believe  me,  fully 
aware  of  the  difficulties  of  the  whole  question  ;  and  as 
the  bishops  are  not  agreed  together,  we  can  hardly  expect 
the  clergy  to  act  differently. 

That  it  is  an  enormous  evil  that  meetings  should  be 
held  for  circulating  God's  most  blessed  Book,  and  for  pro- 
viding destitute  parishes  with  the  means  of  grace,  and  that 
yet  principles  should  be  involved  in  these  works  which  sepa- 
rate the  clergy  and  laity  from  their  bishops,  and  from  one 
another,  I  cannot  doubt.  But  perhaps  the  things  said  at 
such  meetings,  not  only  by  our  lay  brethren,  but  constantly 
by  the  clergy,  are  still  more  mischievous. 

But  pray  do  not  let  anything  I  said  to  you  in  free  con- 
versation be  an  unfair  shackle  to  you,  for  I  am  not  prepared 
to  lay  down  any  definite  rule  about  these  matters. 

I  will  certainly  do  what  I  can  to  prevent  intrusion  into 
the  parishes  of  clergy  who  disapprove  of  particular  societies, 
but  I  see  not  my  way  further.  Pray,  I  must  repeat  it,  be 
assured  I  shall  be  always  ready  to  enter  upon  any  question 
with  you  in  a  most  friendly  spirit. 

Yours  very  truly, 

W.  K.  SARUM. 

Another  letter,  two  years  later,  after  my  father 
removed  from  Salisbury,  shows  how  their  mutual 
regard  ripened  into  a  relation  of  warm  personal 
affection.  Bishop  Hamilton  had  occasion  to  write 
upon  a  matter  of  business,  and  ended — 

G 


82        LIFE   OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

I  am  writing  this  note  at  my  old  desk.1  It  recalls  to 
my  mind  much  duty  and  much  happiness  in  former  days, 
and  will,  I  trust,  not  only  be  a  memorial  of  our  relations 
to  one  another  here,  which  have  been  full  of  pleasure,  and 
not,  I  trust,  without  profit  to  me,  but  will  constantly  remind 
me  to  do  for  you,  as,  I  trust,  you  will  be  able  sometimes  to 
do  for  me,  and  assist  me  with  your  prayers. 

With  affectionate  remembrances  to  Mrs.  Bickersteth, 
and  with  all  hearty  good  wishes, 

I  remain,  my  dear  Bishop, 

Your  sincerely  and  affectionately, 

W.  K.  SARUM. 

March  21,  1857. 

The  three  months'  residence  at  Salisbury  in  the 
glorious  summer  weather  was  always  a  very  happy 
time.  The  roomy  house,  in  which  my  father  was 
able  to  entertain  a  number  of  relatives  and  friends, 
stood,  like  the  Deanery  and  other  ecclesiastical 
residences,  in  the  beautiful  Close,  in  a  garden  which 
stretched  down  to  the  river.  His  immediate  pre- 
decessor in  the  tenure  of  both  house  and  canonry 
had  been  Bishop  Hamilton  himself,  and  it  would  be 
difficult  to  say  whether  the  constant  visits  of  the 
Bishop  and  his  family  to  their  old  house  gave  more 
pleasure  to  them  or  to  its  new  occupants. 

By  a  curious  coincidence,  this  one  house  was  the 
temporary  residence  of  three  bishops  in  succession ; 
for  my  father,  who  succeeded  Bishop  Hamilton,  was 
in  turn  followed  by  Canon  Waldegrave,  who,  after 
holding  the  canonry  for  three  years,  the  same  period 
as  each  of  his  immediate  predecessors,  was  appointed 
to  the  See  of  Carlisle.  My  father  had  much  friendly 

1  This  desk  was  a  piece  of  furniture  which  had  stood  in  the  house  occupied 
by  Bishop  Hamilton  and  my  father  in  succession,  as  Canons  of  Salisbury. 


DEATH  OF  HIS   FATHER.  83 

intercourse  with  Mr.  Waldegrave  during  his  re- 
sidence at  Salisbury ;  and  he  thus  had  for  near 
neighbours  in  the  Northern  Province  two  bishops 
with  whom  he  had  been  closely  associated  in  London 
and  Salisbury  work,  Bishop  Villiers  and  Bishop 
Waldegrave. 

My  father  busied  himself  in  Salisbury  affairs  ; 
took  an  active  interest  in  the  Training  College,  and 
preached  frequently  for  neighbouring  clergy ;  but 
still  it  was  a  time  of  comparative  rest,  and  the  diary 
he  kept  mentions  pleasant  drives  and  evenings  spent 
in  playing  "  with  the  chicks,"  an  occupation  very 
delightful  to  him  and  to  them,  for  which  there  was 
no  leisure  in  London. 

One  great  trouble  overshadowed  the  second  year 
of  his  residence  at  Salisbury — the  death  of  his  father, 
who  had  paid  him  a  visit  at  Salisbury,  and  greatly 
rejoiced  in  his  son's  growing  usefulness  and  minis- 
terial success. 

But  in  September,  1855,  the  latter  was  called  to 
his  rest,  after  a  few  weeks'  illness.  He  had  been 
tenderly  nursed  by  his  children  and  by  my  mother, 
whom  he  always  regarded  as  his  own  daughter,  and 
my  father  was  able  to  be  with  him  at  the  last. 

He  notes  in  his  diary  on  September  2 — 

This  day,  at  3.45  in  the  morning,  my  beloved  father 
passed  away !  Oh  that  it  may  be  henceforth  my  constant 
aim,  in  dependence  on  the  grace  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  to  follow 
him  as  he  followed  Christ.  Wrote  a  number  of  letters  this 
morning ;  walked  a  little  in  the  garden.  Very,  very  sad. 
May  God  bless  and  comfort  us,  and  sanctify  this  grievous 
trial. 

The  intensity  of  his  family  affection  was  one  of 


84        LIFE    OF  BISHOP   ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

the  most  marked  features  in  my  dear  father's 
character ;  and  the  complete  sympathy  in  all  their 
work  between  his  father  and  himself,  made  the 
bereavement  a  far  heavier  trial  than  it  is  to  most 
men  to  lose  a  parent  who  has  fulfilled  the  allotted 
span  of  life. 

Before  passing  from  Salisbury  it  should  be 
noticed  that  my  father  was  elected  Proctor  for  the 
Chapter  in  the  Convocation  of  Canterbury  (of  which 
his  brother  Edward,  then  Archdeacon  of  Bucks  and 
Vicar  of  Aylesbury,  shortly  afterwards  became  the 
Prolocutor),  and  that  he  held  the  office  of  Treasurer 
of  the  Cathedral. 

It  was  at  Salisbury  also  that  my  father  made 
the  acquaintance  of  another  who  became  very  highly 
distinguished  on  the  Episcopal  Bench.  The  Rev. 
James  Eraser  wrote  to  him  in  1870  to  announce 
his  nomination  to  the  See  of  Manchester ;  and  after 
saying,  with  characteristic  modesty,  how  he  shrank 
from  the  office,  adds— 

I  believe  a  bishop  elect  has  the  privilege  of  choosing 
the  bishops  who  will  present  him  at  his  consecration. 
The  Bishop  of  Chester  (Dr.  Jacobson),  who  is  an  old  Oxford 
friend,  has  promised  to  act  as  one,  and  I  thought  I  should 
like  to  ask  you,  on  the  strength  of  the  acquaintance  we 
formed  at  Salisbury,  and  out  of  the  respect  I  have  for  your 
character,  to  be  the  other.  Will  you  grant  me  this  favour  ? 

It  is  best  to  tell  in  his  own  words  the  story  of 
my  father's  appointment  to  the  bishopric  of  Ripon, 
of  which  he  received  the  offer  on  November  27, 
1856.  He  wrote — 

I  was  hardly  aware  of  the  fact  that  the  See  was  vacant, 
so  little  attention  did  I  pay  at  that  time  to  such  ecclesi- 


OFFER   OF   THE  BISHOPRIC.  85 

astical  events.  It  was  brought  to  my  knowledge  in  a 
singular  way.  For  some  time  past  I  had  been  Honorary 
Secretary  of  the  Society  for  Irish  Church  Missions  to  Roman 
Catholics,  and  had  taken  a  warm  interest  in  that  society. 
Certain  difficulties  in  the  working  of  the  Bradford  Associa- 
tions led  the  committee  to  ask  me  to  go  down  to  Bradford 
to  preach  for  the  society,  and  to  attend  the  annual  meeting. 
I  was  received  in  Bradford  with  great  hospitality  by 
Mr.  Rollings,  and  a  large  number  of  clergy  met  me  at  his 
house  in  the  evening.  Almost  before  anything  else  was 
said,  they  asked  me  if  I  could  tell  them  who  was  to  be  their 
new  bishop.  I  could  tell  them  nothing.  It  was  their 
question  which  first  brought  to  my  knowledge  the  fact  that 
the  Ripon  diocese  was  vacant,  and  that  Bradford  was  one 
of  its  principal  towns.  I  preached  the  same  evening  in 
St.  Andrew's  Church  for  the  Irish  Church  Missions,  and 
spoke  at  the  meeting  on  the  following  day.  I  then  returned 
to  London  ;  and  two  or  three  days  later,  while  sitting  alone 
with  my  wife,  a  messenger  arrived,  bearing  a  letter  from 
Lord  Palmerston,  in  which  he  stated  that  he  was  authorised 
by  the  Queen  to  offer  me  the  See  of  Ripon. 

The  private  journal  for  that  evening  notes : 
"  Committed  myself  in  prayer  with  B.  to  God.  Oh, 
how  unworthy  am  I  ! " 

My  father  called  on  Lord  Palmerston  the  follow- 
ing morning  and  accepted  the  offer. 

An  apocryphal  story  was  for  a  time  current  in 
certain  quarters  where  my  father's  appointment  was 
viewed  with  disfavour,  that  Lord  Palmerston,  who 
was  advised  in  the  distribution  of  his  ecclesiastical 
patronage  by  Lord  Shaftesbury,  made  some  con- 
fusion between  his  uncle  and  himself ;  but  for  this 
there  was  absolutely  no  foundation,  for  the  Rector 
of  St.  Giles's  and  Canon  of  Salisbury  had  a  per- 
sonality quite  sufficiently  distinct  to  be  known  even 


86        LIFE   OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

to  one  so  little  versed  in  ecclesiastical  affairs  as  Lord 
Palmerston ;  and  the  Rev.  Edward  Bickersteth,  of 
Watton,  had  died  six  years  before. 

At  that  time  there  had  been  a  quick  succession 
of  changes  on  the  Episcopal  Bench,  and  Lord 
Palmerston  had  appointed  a  considerable  number 
of  so-called  Evangelical  bishops.  The  group  of 
Palmerstonian  bishops  included,  however,  men 
differing  as  widely  as  Samuel  Waldegrave  of  Car- 
lisle, and  Archibald  Campbell  Tait ;  and  those  who 
are  most  opposed  to  the  party  principles  of  the 
Evangelical  bishops,  will  generally  admit  that  Lord 
Palmerston  was  well  advised  in  appointing  men 
who  were  chiefly  eminent  as  parish  priests. 

The  days  of  "  Greek  Play  Bishops  "  were  over, 
and  the  times  demanded  something  more  than  a 
dignified  prelate  with  a  large  store  of  theological 
learning,  but  removed  equally  from  the  clergy  and 
the  people. 

Happily  there  are  still  upon  the  Bench  men 
who  represent  the  highest  culture  and  the  soundest 
learning,  whose  solid  theological  work  is  the  glory 
of  the  English  Church,  and  the  bulwark  of  the  Faith 
in  conflict  with  unbelief  all  over  Christendom  ;  but 
the  credit  is  due  to  Lord  Palmerston  of  having 
sought  to  appoint  the  practical,  working  bishops, 
who  have  been  so  singularly  successful  in  infusing 
into  the  clergy  their  own  energy  and  spiritual  force  ; 
and  it  is  the  work  of  men  like  these  which  has 
restored  the  office  of  a  bishop  to  so  high  a  place  in 
popular  esteem. 

A  clergyman,  who  was  at  Cambridge  at  the 
time,  writes  that  the  episcopal  appointments  of  Lord 


SELECT  PREACHER  AT  CAMBRIDGE.  87 

Palmerston  in   1856-57  caused  great  excitement  in 
the  University : — 

The  idea  of  Evangelical  principles  having  authority 
in  the  Church  seemed,  to  the  profound  theologians  who 
thronged  the  college  halls,  the  height  of  absurdity.  The 
appointment  of  Mr.  Bickersteth  was  the  occasion  of  a 
manifestation  of  great  bitterness  and  wrath.  When  it 
was  known  that  the  new  Bishop  of  Ripon  was  to  be  the 
University  preacher  in  that  year  (1857),  much  curiosity 
was  roused.  It  is  only  just  to  say  that  a  vast  amount  of 
the  dislike  of  Evangelicals  then  shown,  arose  from  sheer 
ignorance,  and  from  creating  ideals  of  men  and  opinions 
which  had  very  limited,  if  any,  existence. 

The  undergraduates  who  favoured  the  new  appoint- 
ments had  a  hard  time  of  it ;  and  were  subjected  to 
unceasing  ridicule  and  ironical  comment 

I  shall  not  easily  forget  the  total  change  in  the  situation 
brought  by  the  Bishop's  first  University  sermon.  It  was 
on  Advent  Sunday.  St.  Mary's  was  crowded  in  every  part. 
The  personal  appearance  of  the  Bishop,  and  his  remarkably 
dignified  manner,  did  not  fail  from  the  first  to  produce  a 
favourable  impression.  He  preached  from  Rev.  i.  7 : 
"  Behold,  He  cometh  with  clouds  ;  and  every  eye  shall  see 
Him,"  etc.  The  sermon  was  listened  to  with  riveted 
attention  ;  so  different  from  an  ordinary  University  sermon  ! 
It  was  a  thrilling  and  eloquent  statement  of  the  certainty 
and  nature  of  Christ's  second  coming,  and  of  the  rapid 
completion  of  the  world's  story.  Towards  the  close  he 
vividly  depicted  the  different  states  and  conditions  in  which 
men  would  be  found  at  that  Advent,  and  the  joy  or  con- 
sternation which  must  ensue.  Evidently  a  profound  im- 
pression was  made  on  all  present.  In  the  hall  of  my  own 
college  that  evening  the  difference  was  marked.  A  re- 
verential tone  prevailed  ;  and  from  that  day  I  never  heard 
anything  in  Cambridge  but  praise  of  the  Bishop  of  Ripon, 
and  hearty  appreciation  of  his  after-words  in  the  University 
church. 


88        LIFE   OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

To  leave  St.  Giles's  was  a  serious  wrench,  for  the 
work  was  one  in  which  my  father  was  associated 
with  many  valued  personal  friends ;  and  the  ties 
between  the  pastor  and  his  flock  were  of  the  same 
affectionate  character  as  those  which  had  rendered 
the  separation  from  St.  John's  so  painful  only  five 
years  before. 

There  were,  of  course,  many  outward  tokens  of 
regard  ;  but  no  personal  gift  was  more  valued  than 
the  portrait  of  my  mother,  by  George  Richmond, 
which  was  given  by  the  members  of  the  Bible  class. 

In  Yorkshire  my  father  was  welcomed  with  the 
utmost  kindness  by  Archbishop  Musgrave,  and  his 
first  visits  to  Ripon  were  made  from  Bishopthorpe, 
and  from  Richmond  Rectory,  the  home  of  his  brother- 
in-law,  the  Rev.  Lawrence  Ottley. 

This  brings  to  a  close  the  sketch  of  my  father's 
life,  up  to  the  time  of  his  consecration ;  and  I  must 
leave  for  a  new  chapter  a  review  of  the  diocese  at 
the  time  when  my  father  was  consecrated  second 
Bishop  of  Ripon,  in  the  parish  church  of  Bishop- 
thorpe, on  January  18,  1857. 

But  here  should  be  noticed  a  point  which  was 
well  drawn  out  by  Bishop  Ryan,  in  a  sermon 
preached  in  Ripon  Cathedral,  on  the  Sunday  follow- 
ing my  father's  death.  He  showed  how  remarkable 
was  the  Providential  preparation  by  which  my  father 
was  trained  for  the  duties  of  a  bishop.  The  in- 
fluence of  his  father's  saintly  character  in  the  quiet 
home  at  Acton  ;  the  successive  curacies  of  Sapcote, 
Reading,  and  Clapham ;  the  varieties  of  parish  work 
afforded  by  the  widely  different  cures  of  St.  John's, 
Clapham,  and  St.  Giles's-in-the-Fields, — all  contri- 


PREPARATION  FOR   HIS  FUTURE    WORK.        89 

buted  their  part  to  the  sum  of  his  pastoral  effi- 
ciency ;  while  his  skill  in  organising  work  as  secre- 
tary of  a  great  religious  society,  and  an  insight  into 
the  cathedral  system  gained  by  his  residence  at 
Salisbury,  enabled  him  to  enter  on  the  duties  of  his 
new  sphere  with  a  wide  experience,  and  a  heart 
well  qualified  to  sympathise  with  the  clergy  in  the 
varied  necessities  of  parishes  so  different  as  the 
busy  manufacturing  towns  in  the  West  Riding,  and 
the  little  villages  sleeping  peacefully  in  Craven  and 
the  northern  dales. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

DIOCESE    OF  RIPON,    1857. 

Diocese  of  Ripon— Wilfrid  and  the  distant  past— Reconstitution  of  the 
See  in  1836 — Bishop  Longley  and  his  work — Rapid  progress  and 
great  needs — Dr.  Hook's  work  at  Leeds— His  estimate  of  religious 
life  in  Yorkshire — Relations  between  High  Churchmen  and  an 
Evangelical  Bishop — Rev.  C.  Clayton — Letters  from  Dr.  Hook 
and  Bishop  Barry. 

THE  diocese  of  Ripon,  when  my  father  was  con- 
secrated, on  January  18,  1857,  was  one  of  the 
most  important  cures  within  the  English  Church. 
If  there  were  some  of  wider  area  and  two  or  three 
of  denser  population,  there  was  no  diocese  within 
the  United  Kingdom  which,  both  in  area  and  popu- 
lation, exceeded  that  of  Ripon.  The  Minster  church, 
though  it  had  long  been  shorn  of  its  episcopal 
dignity,  had  traditions  stretching  into  the  distant 
past ;  and  the  diocesan  history,  whenever  it  is 
written,  must  begin  not  with  Bishop  Longley,  but 
with  Wilfrid  and  the  line  of  Saxon  bishops  who 
made  Ripon  a  centre  from  which  mission  priests 
went  forth  to  evangelize  the  Yorkshire  dales  one 
thousand  years  ago. 

For  the  present  we  are  only  concerned  with  the 
state  of  the    diocese  within   the  memory  of  living 


FIRST  EPISCOPAL   CHARGE.  91 

men  ;  but  it  would  be  a  graceless  act  to  tell  the  story 
of  my  father's  work  at  Ripon  without  speaking  of 
the  great  debt  which  the  diocese  owes  to  Bishop 
Longley,  who  spent  in  it  the  best  years  of  his  life 
before  he  was  called  in  quick  succession  to  the 
greater  Sees  of  Durham,  York,  and  Canterbury. 
Unhappily,  no  life  of  Bishop  Longley  has  yet  been 
written,  though  it  would  be  of  real  interest,  both  for 
his  own  sake,  and  for  the  insight  it  would  give  into 
the  marvellous  growth  of  Church  feeling  during  the 
last  half-century. 

My  father's  first  Charge,  delivered  in  1858,  gives 
a  striking  picture  of  the  condition  of  the  diocese  on 
his  appointment,  and  contains  an  eulogy  of  his  pre- 
decessor which  I  feel  sure  he  would  wish  preserved. 
He  says — 

The  name  of  Bishop  Longley  will  never  cease  to  be 
remembered  in  this  diocese  with  grateful  affection.  I 
believe  it  may  truly  be  said  that  this  affection  was  enter- 
tained for  him  amongst  all  classes,  as  well  for  his  office  as 
for  his  work's  sake. 

As  the  first  bishop  of  the  diocese,  it  fell  to  his  lot  to 
do  more  for  the  organisation  of  the  work  of  the  Church 
within  its  limits  than  will  probably  ever  devolve  again  to 
his  successors  in  office.  How  admirably,  with  what  un- 
wearied diligence,  with  what  a  combination  of  zeal  a.nd 
kindness,  and  with  what  patiently  sustained  effort  he  dis- 
charged the  duties  of  his  office,  for  the  long  period  during 
which  he  presided  over  the  diocese,  many  of  you,  my 
reverend  brethren,  well  know,  and  many  an  enduring 
evidence  will  testify  for  years  to  come. 

You  will  bear  with  me,  if  I  embrace  the  present  oppor- 
tunity briefly  to  remind  you  of  some  of  those  more  pro- 
minent works  of  piety  and  usefulness,  which  your  late 
Bishop  was  instrumental  to  inaugurate.  The  benefits 


92        LIFE    OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

resulting  from  them  are  felt  in  every  part  of  the  diocese ; 
and  I  trust  that  even  a  slight  recapitulation  of  them  may 
strengthen  our  perception  of  the  responsibilities  which  lie 
before  us,  and  give  increased  vigour  to  the  determination, 
by  God's  grace,  to  act  up  to  the  measure  of  our  high  obliga- 
tions. 

It  will  not  be  necessary  for  me  to  dwell  upon  what  more 
immediately  relates  to  the  constitution  of  the  See  ;  such  as 
the  territorial  boundaries  of  the  diocese,  and  other  matters 
of  a  similar  nature  ;  although  it  would  not  be  difficult  to 
show  in  regard  to  these,  how  largely  the  whole  diocese 
is  indebted  to  the  forethought  and  judgment  of  its  first 
bishop.  Passing  by  these  topics,  I  shall  simply  refer  to 
what  has  been  attempted  in  furtherance  of  the  work  of  the 
Church  within  the  limits  of  the  diocese  since  the  compara- 
tively recent  revival  of  the  ancient  See  of  Ripon.  The 
present  diocese  was  reconstituted  in  the  year  1836.  It  was 
an  eventful  period  in  the  history  of  our  Church.  Public 
attention  was  beginning  to  be  awakened  to  the  fearful 
amount  of  spiritual  destitution  which  prevailed  in  many 
parts  of  the  country.  The  appalling  fact  had  been  recently 
brought  to  light,  that  upwards  of  three  millions  of  our 
home  population  were  in  a  state  of  comparative  spiritual 
destitution.  Successive  years  had  witnessed  the  almost  mira- 
culous increase  of  the  population.  It  was  computed  that 
this  increase  had  been  going  on  at  the  annual  rate  of  above 
300,000  souls  ;  yet  little  or  no  corresponding  effort  had  been 
made  to  render  the  spiritual  provision  within  our  Church 
commensurate  with  the  continually  augmenting  spiritual 
necessity.  In  the  second  Report  of  the  Commissioners,  who 
were  appointed  in  1835  to  consider  the  state  of  the  Estab- 
lished Church  in  England  and  Wales,  it  is  put  on  record  : — 
"The  growth  of  the  population  has  been  so  rapid  as  to 
outrun  the  means  possessed  by  the  Establishment  of  meet- 
ing its  spiritual  wants  ;  and  the  result  has  been  that  a 
vast  proportion  of  the  people  are  left  destitute  of  the 
opportunities  of  public  worship  and  Christian  instruction, 
even  when  every  allowance  is  made  for  the  exertions  of 


WORK  OF  BISHOP  LONG  LEY.  93 

those  religious  bodies  which  are  not  in  connection  with  the 
Established  Church." 

I  am  not  aware  of  the  relative  proportion  in  which  the 
destitution  prevailed  in  this  particular  diocese,  as  compared 
with  other  parts  of  the  kingdom.  At  the  same  time, 
bearing  in  mind  that  the  evil  itself  had  arisen  in  great 
measure  from  the  attraction  of  large  masses  to  certain 
districts,  where  the  facility  for  manufacture  or  for  commerce 
called  for  the  employment  of  a  vast  amount  of  labour  ;  and 
recollecting  also  that,  with  only  one  or  two  exceptions,  all 
the  great  manufacturing  towns  of  Yorkshire  are  included 
within  the  diocese  of  Ripon,  it  is  a  reasonable  inference 
that  this  diocese  must  have  had  its  full  share  of  the  spiritual 
necessity  which  was  then  proved  to  exist  in  the  country  at 
large. 

Hence  it  arose  that  on'e  of  the  most  pressing  wants 
which  were  immediately  forced  upon  the  notice  of  my 
predecessor  in  office  was,  the  necessity  for  a  large  extension 
of  Church  accommodation. 

To  meet  this  want,  within  two  years  of  his  appointment 
to  the  See,  Bishop  Longley  founded  the  Diocesan  Society 
for  the  Increase  of  Church  Accommodation.  In  addition 
to  promoting  the  erection  and  enlargement  of  churches,  it 
was  proposed,  by  means  of  this  society,  to  aid  the  endow- 
ment of  churches,  and  the  erection  of  parsonage-houses, 
with  a  view  to  secure,  as  far  as  possible,  to  each  separate 
benefice  the  advantage  of  a  resident  incumbent. 

The  results  which  have  followed  afford  ground  for 
thankfulness  and  encouragement. 

The  society  has  been  the  direct  instrument  to  accom- 
plish much,  and  it  has  also  served  indirectly  to  awaken  a 
lively  zeal  for  the  building  of  churches,  of  which  the  fruits 
are  apparent  in  every  part  of  the  diocese. 

It  is  just  twenty  years  since  the  society  was  first  estab- 
lished. In  the  course  of  that  period  of  time,  it  has  made 
the  following  grants  : — 

For  the  erection  of  eighty-six  new  churches,  a  sum  total 
of  £29,965. 


94       LIFE   OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

For  increased  accommodation  in  twenty-six  churches,  a 
sum  total  of  .£4,836. 

For  converting  into  churches  two  buildings  which  pre- 
viously existed,  ^"500. 

For  the  provision  or  the  augmentation  of  endowments 
in  fifty-one  different  parishes,  a  sum  total  of  ^"10,970. 

For  the  erection  of  parsonage-houses  in  107  separate 
parishes,  a  sum  total  of  ^"21,700. 

The  general  summary  of  the  society's  operations  shows 
that  a  total  amount  of  ^67,971  has  been  raised  and  ex- 
pended for  the  objects  already  specified.  And  through  its 
means  the  church  accommodation  of  the  diocese  has  been 
augmented  to  the  extent  of  50,744  sittings  for  adults,  and 
13,345  sittings  for  scholars,  in  Sunday  schools. 

But  the  foregoing  statistics  do  not  nearly  represent  the 
whole  of  what  has  been  done  for  the  increase  of  church 
accommodation  in  the  diocese  during  the  episcopate  of 
your  late  Diocesan. 

In  the  year  1836,  when  the  present  See  was  formed, 
there  were  in  the  whole  diocese  307  churches,  297  incum- 
bents, 76  curates,  and  170  parsonage-houses. 

At  the  close  of  the  year  1856,  when,  in  the  Providence 
of  God,  I  was  called  to  my  present  office,  I  found  in  the 
diocese  432  churches,  419  incumbents,  146  curates,  and 
301  parsonage-houses.  Consequently  there  had  been  during 
my  predecessor's  term  of  office  an  increase  within  the  diocese 
of  125  churches,  122  incumbents,  70  curates,  and  131 
parsonage-houses. 

Such  facts,  my  reverend  brethren,  speak  for  themselves. 
They  call  for  thankful  acknowledgment.  They  tell  aloud 
of  generous,  self-denying  effort  put  forth  for  the  glory  of 
God  and  the  welfare  of  His  Church — nor  put  forth  in 
vain,  but  signally  owned  and  recompensed  with  the  Divine 
blessing. 

There  is  another  great  work,  with  the  commencement 
of  which  the  name  of  Bishop  Longley  is  inseparably 
connected.  I  allude  to  the  Ripon  Diocesan  Board  of 
Education. 


DIOCESAN  ORGANISATION.  95 

This  institution  was  founded  in  the  year  1841.  The 
design,  as  originally  set  forth,  was  to  promote  and  extend 
popular  education,  according  to  the  principles  of  the  Estab- 
lished Church.  It  was  proposed,  by  aid  of  grants,  to  assist 
in  the  erection  of  schools  ;  to  provide  stipends  for  masters  ; 
to  facilitate  the  training  of  young  persons  for  the  office  of 
teachers  ;  to  afford  pensions  in  certain  cases  for  masters 
and  mistresses ;  to  grant  rewards  for  scholars,  and  to 
proVide  for  the  periodical  inspection  of  schools. 

The  funds  which  have  been  hitherto  placed  at  the  dis- 
posal of  the  Board,  have  been  insufficient  to  accomplish 
more  than  three  of  the  proposed  objects :  at  the  same  time 
the  society  has  done  much  towards  the  promotion  of  edu- 
cation. The  educational  wants  of  the  diocese  have  been 
ascertained  and  made  known.  To  a  large  extent  those 
wants  have  been  supplied  ;  and  it  is  due,  in  a  great 
measure,  to  the  existence  of  the  Diocesan  Board  of  Edu- 
cation, that,  with  the  exception  of  only  twelve  churches,  every 
church  and  district  in  the  diocese  has  one  or  more  schools 
connected  with  it.  And  in  almost  all  of  those  exceptional 
cases,  the  children  are  instructed  in  Church  schools  which 
are  situated  in  adjoining  parishes  and  districts. 

Amongst  other  measures  which  have  contributed  to  the 
efficiency  of  the  Church  within  the  diocese,  I  may  enu- 
merate the  subdivision  of  the  whole  diocese  into  rural 
deaneries,  the  appointment  of  a  rural  dean  to  each  of 
these  deaneries,  and  the  increased  number  of  parishes  in 
which  the  rite  of  Confirmation  is  periodically  administered. 
The  former  of  these  arrangements  is  calculated  to  promote 
in  various  ways  the  well-being  of  the  diocese,  especially  by 
bringing  the  clergy  into  more  frequent  intercourse  with 
each  other,  and,  through  the  rural  dean,  with  their  bishop  : 
and  it  is  owing  to  the  latter  arrangement  with  regard  to 
Confirmation,  that  this  important  service  has  come  to  be 
better  understood,  more  highly  valued,  and  more  numerously 
frequented. 

The  foregoing  remarks  will  serve  to  indicate  how  much 
cause  for  thankfulness  we  have  upon  the  review  of  the 


96       LIFE  OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

labours  of  your  late  Diocesan.  May  the  time  never  come 
when  the  work  which  God  permitted  him  to  accomplish 
in  this  diocese  shall  cease  to  be  held  in  grateful  and 
affectionate  remembrance ! 

These  words  describe  twenty  years  of  continuous 
progress ;  and  yet  it  was  evident  that  the  Church  in 
Yorkshire  still  came  immeasurably  short  of  fulfilling 
her  responsibility  to  the  great  masses  of  population 
with  which  she  had  to  deal. 

One  year  after  the  consecration  of  Bishop  Long- 
ley,  Walter  Farquhar  Hook  was  instituted  to  the 
vicarage  of  Leeds ;  and  the  record  of  his  work  is 
the  history  of  a  magnificent  struggle,  which  ended  in 
restoring  the  Church  to  something  like  her  true 
position,  in  one  town  at  least,  and  forming  a  noble 
ideal  for  the  parish  priest  of  a  vast  commercial 
community. 

This  is  not  the  place  to  give  a  detailed  account 
of  the  marvellous  growth  of  Church  work  in  Leeds, 
under  Dr.  Hook,  for  those  who  are  interested  in 
the  history  of  the  Church  in  the  West  Riding,  are 
familiar  with  the  volumes  in  which  the  Rev.  W. 
R.  W.  Stephens  has  told  the  story  of  his  life.  But 
outsiders  may  easily  suppose  that  the  changes  in 
Leeds  are  unique. 

Certainly  Yorkshire  churchmen  cheerfully  ac- 
knowledge the  supremacy  of  Leeds  Parish  Church, 
and  he  would  be  a  bold  man  who  denied  to  the 
great  vicar  the  title  of  the  "  prince  of  parish  priests  ;  " 
but  there  are  results  no  less  striking  in  other  West 
Riding  towns. 

Bradford  has  its  group  of  more  than  twenty 
churches  within  the  borough  to  mark  the  progress 


PROGRESS   OF   THE   CHURCH.  97 

of  the  Church  during  the  last  thirty  or  forty  years. 
There  are  living  men  who  remember  when  there 
were  three  churches  only  for  the  whole  borough  of 
Bradford,  and  when  the  system  of  parish  work,  as 
we  know  it  to-day,  was  so  little  understood  that  the 
visitation  of  the  sick  throughout  the  whole  town 
was  divided  by  an  amicable  arrangement  between 
the  vicar  and  two  or  three  non-conforming  ministers. 
There  is  not  a  word  to  say  against  courtesy  and 
brotherly  love  between  those  who  are  trying  to 
serve  in  different  ways  the  same  Lord  and  Master ; 
but  Church  people  would  be  not  a  little  astonished 
to-day,  if  a  clergyman  refused  to  visit  his  own 
congregation  on  the  ground  that  the  services  of  a 
Nonconformist  minister  were  at  their  disposal. 

Dr.  Hook,  after  a  short  experience  of  Leeds, 
pronounced  that  "  Methodism  was  the  established 
religion  of  the  West  Riding;"  and  it  was  a  long  time 
before  Church  principles  took  its  place. 

We  feel  sure  that  Dr.  Hook  would  be  as  little 
likely  as  my  father  to  use  these  words  in  any  sense 
offensive  to  the  Methodists.  It  was  so  obvious  to 
a  thoughtful  man  that  the  Methodist  societies  had 
kept  alive  the  flame  of  religious  zeal  during  the 
days  of  torpor  in  the  Church,  that  to  speak  of 
Methodism  as  the  established  religion  was  to  admit 
a  fact  very  creditable  to  the  Wesleyans,  if  it  cast  a 
not  unmerited  reproof  upon  the  apathy  of  the  clergy 
in  days  gone  by.  Yet  it  would  be  a  great  mistake 
to  suppose  that  there  was  no  feeling  for  the  Church, 
or  no  real  religion  in  the  hearts  of  the  people  who 
were  living  without  the  means  of  grace. 

Many  a  Yorkshire  clergyman  has  marvelled  at 

H 


98        LIFE   OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

the  ready  response  which  has  been  made  by  his 
parishioners  where  the  Church  has  been  shown  to 
them  in  its  true  light.  Unexpected  changes  reveal 
a  deep-rooted  attachment  to  the  parish  churches  in 
which  their  children  were  christened,  and  around 
whose  venerable  walls  their  fathers  sleep.  Let  the 
people  recognise  that  the  Gospel  is  preached  with 
the  same  freedom  and  fulness  in  the  Church,  and 
with  the  same  simple  earnestness  that  makes  so 
attractive  the  ministrations  of  the  pious  local 
preachers,  and  the  Methodists  develop  very  quickly 
into  the  most  zealous  adherents  of  the  Church. 

It  is  the  evidence  of  a  gradual  awakening  to 
such  facts  as  these  that  gives  the  real  interest  to 
the  statistics  of  the  new  churches  and  schools,  which 
sprang  up  in  the  Ripon  diocese  with  such  startling 
rapidity. 

Those  who  attribute  this  marvellous  extension 
to  the  impulse  of  the  Oxford  Movement,  and  in 
Leeds,  at  any  rate,  to  the  influence  of  Dr.  Hook,  may 
be  inclined  to  say  that  they  have  not  been  in  the 
habit  of  thinking  that  Bishop  Bickersteth  was  work- 
ing on  the  same  lines.  Certainly  he  was  at  times, 
like  Dr.  Hook  himself,  a  staunch  opponent  of  the 
Romanising  element  in  the  Tractarian  party  ;  but 
none  who  knew  him  will  question  his  sympathy  for 
all  that  was  at  once  Evangelical  and  Catholic. 

It  was  not  unnatural  that  those  who  knew  my 
father's  reputation  as  a  controversialist,  and  a  zealous 
advocate  of  societies  supported  by  one  party  in  the 
Church,  should  have  felt  some  misgivings  when  he 
first  went  to  Ripon  as  to  what  might  be  his  relations 
with  the  High  Church  clergy  of  his  diocese. 


REV.    CHARLES   CLAYTON.  99 

Of  his  own  convictions  an  unmistakable  sign  was 
given  in  the  choice  of  the  Rev.  Charles  Clayton,  as 
examining  chaplain.  Mr.  Clayton  was  at  that  time 
Fellow  of  Caius,  and  the  foremost  representative  in 
Cambridge  of  the  party  of  the  Rev.  C.  Simeon. 
Never  was  there  a  man  of  more  unflinching  honesty 
and  consistent  attachment  to  the  principles  he  pro- 
fessed ;  but,  steadfast  as  was  his  allegiance  to  the 
tenets  of  a  particular  party,  his  evident  holiness  and 
earnestness  of  purpose  compelled  the  respect  of 
those  who  most  disliked  what  they  thought  the 
narrowness  of  his  theological  position.  Of  the  many 
hundred  priests  and  deacons  who  were  examined 
by  him  for  Holy  Orders,  in  the  diocese  of  Ripon, 
there  are  few  who  have  not  a  grateful  remembrance 
of  his  personal  kindness,  and  none  can  entertain  a 
doubt  that  his  task  was  fulfilled  under  a  deep  sense 
of  prayerful  responsibility. 

But  this  appointment  was  not  followed  by  any 
effort  to  harass  or  repel  clergy  of  opposite  views.  It 
is  conceivable  that  some  young  men  from  Oxford 
may  have  shrunk  from  encountering  Canon  Clay- 
ton's searching  inquiries  into  their  knowledge  of 
the  Articles  on  "original  sin,"  and  "justification  by 
faith ; "  but  those  who  came  to  Ripon  found  there  was 
no  attempt  to  narrow  the  comprehensiveness  of  the 
English  Church,  and  earnest  men  of  all  sorts  rejoiced 
to  learn  that  the  chief  weight  was  given  to  know- 
ledge of  Holy  Scripture,  and  signs  of  aptitude  for 
real  ministerial  work. 

Some  of  my  father's  Evangelical  friends  seemed 
to  expect  that  he  would  find  it  difficult  to  work 
in  harmony  with  the  Vicar  of  Leeds  ;  for  it  was 


100      LIFE    OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERS 'TETH. 

notorious  that  Dr.  Hook,  with  all  his  respect  for  the 
office  of  a  Bishop,  had  achieved  a  position  in  Leeds 
which  might  have  made  him  quite  independent  of 
episcopal  control. 

Shortly  after  his  appointment  to  Ripon,  my  father 
was  invited  to  preside  in  Leeds  at  the  annual  meeting 
of  the  Bible  Society.  He  had  given  his  consent  to 
do  so  before  he  was  aware  of  the  strong  dislike  which 
the  vicar  felt  to  the  methods  of  the  society.  Dr. 
Hook  went  so  far  as  to  claim  that,  since  all  Leeds 
was  his  parish,  the  Bishop  could  not  fairly  hold  a 
meeting  in  the  town  for  any  object  which  had  not 
his  support. 

My  father  was  firm,  mindful,  no  doubt,  of  his 
own  deference  to  episcopal  authority  illustrated  by 
the  correspondence  with  Bishop  Hamilton  quoted 
above,  and  kept  his  promise  to  the  society. 

I  mention  this  incident  to  show  that  the  cordial 
relations  which  existed  afterwards  between  himself 
and  Dr.  Hook  were  not  purchased  by  the  surrender 
of  principle  on  either  side. 

In  his  journal  Dr.  Hook  notes,  on  the  appoint- 
ment of  Dr.  Bickersteth  to  the  bishopric  of  Ripon— 

This  is  the  first  time  that  I  have  been  placed  under  a 
Bishop  younger  than  myself.  He  is  almost  young  enough 
to  be  my  son.  It  is  difficult,  therefore,  at  first  to  produce 
filial  feelings  towards  him  ;  but  they  will  come. 

In  a  letter  to  Sir  W.  P.  Wood,  dated  April   8, 
1858,  Dr.  Hook  says- 
Easter  Tuesday  was  a  busy  day.     The  Bishop  laid  the 
foundation  stone  of  the  Grammar  School,  with  a  beautiful 
service  and  an  admirable  address.     We  then  gave  the  boys 


THE    VICAR   OF  LEEDS.  IOI 

a  dinner,  to  the  high  table  of  which,  -.subscribers,  were 
admitted.  I  was,  of  course,  in  thfe .  'chaiiif.  >'Barrys  spoke 
admirably,  and,  of  me  personally,;  With  sucjx ;  ;affec,tip5T,  ;that 
if  I  had  not  been  in  the  chair  I  should' 'have  cried  \  tut  I 
gulped  down  my  maudlin  with  a  glass  of  wine.  Then  we 
went  to  church,  where  the  Bishop  gave  us  a  beautiful 
sermon,  one  of  those  sermons  which  remain  upon  my  mind. 
He  offered  to  go  in  his  robes  to  open  the  schools,  and  to 
say  grace  for  the  children.  He  spoke  of  me  as  "  his  valued 
friend  the  vicar,"  which  made  my  heart,  as  darling  Jim 
would  say,  go  pit-a-pat. 

And  in  September  in  the  same  year,  writing  to  a 
friend  on  the  Queen's  visit  to  Leeds  to  open  the 
new  Town  Hall,  there  is  a  further  allusion  to  my 
father  :— 

Amidst  it  all  I  lacked  my  old  enthusiasm,  and  suffered 
somewhat  from  rheumatism.  I  must  own  to  a  little  morti- 
fication at  first,  at  being  entirely  superseded  on  my  own 
dunghill.  The  Bishop  said  the  prayer  and  spoke  at  the 
banquet.  But  this  nasty  feeling  soon  gave  way  when  I 
found  him  doing  everything  so  much  better  than  I  could 
have  done  it  myself. 

I  have  before  me  a  number  of  letters  from  Dr. 
Hook,  which  make  it  evident  how  he  and  my  father 
were  at  one  in  the  effort  to  weld  together  the  whole 
diocese  in  brotherly  love  ;  and  of  these  I  quote  one 
to  show  how  much  my  father  was  assisted  by  his 
thoughtful  consideration. 

The  Vicarage,  Leeds,  August  20,  1858. 

My  Lord, — I  see  by  the  papers  that  you  have  fixed  the 
27th  of  September  for  the  Visitation  in  Leeds  ;  but  as  we 
have  not  received  a  formal  notice,  I  write  to  say  that  this 
will  be  in  the  midst  of  the  meeting  of  the  British  Associa- 


102      LIFE   OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

tion:  .'The  Association  meets  on  the  22nd,  and  will  last  till 
the  izpth. 

«,  ,  I  .do, riot  jityotor  whether  this  will  occasion  any  great  incon- 
venience, frut  the  town  will  be  full,  and  the  excursion  trains 
will  be  going  ;  and  I  think  it  worth  while  to  mention  the 
circumstance,  as  it  may  be  possible  so  to  arrange  matters 
as  to  have  the  Visitation  a  few  days  later.  At  all  events, 
I  am  sure  that  you  will  not  think  me  officious  in  writing. 

I  should  wish  also  to  receive  your  directions  as  to  the 
service.  I  have  hitherto  had  a  plain  service  at  the  Arch- 
deacon's Visitation,  under  the  notion  that  some  of  the 
clergy  might  object  to  chanting  ;  but  at  the  Bishop's  Visita- 
tion I  have  directed  our  choir  to  attend.  It  is  a  subject 
upon  which  I  am  perfectly  indifferent.  Plain  service  and 
cathedral  service  are  the  same  to  me.  I  delight  in  both. 
I  mention  this  lest  your  Lordship,  with  your  usual  kind- 
ness, should  take  my  supposed  wishes  into  consideration. 
If  you  will  consider  what  is  best  to  be  done,  and  then  give 
your  orders,  I  shall  be  ready  to  obey,  and  to  take  care 
that  all  things  be  done  "  decently  and  in  order." 

I  am,  my  Lord, 
Your  Lordship's  obliged  and  dutiful  servant, 

W.  F.  HOOK. 
The  Lord  Bishop  of  Ripon. 

That  other  High  Churchmen  soon  learned  to 
appreciate  their  Bishop  is  shown  in  the  following 
letter  from  Canon  Venables.  Writing  to  the 
Guardian,  in  May,  1884,  he  narrated  a  conversation 
between  himself  and  Dr.  Barry,  then  head  master 
of  Leeds  Grammar  School,  and  now  Metropolitan  of 
Sydney,  in  the  course  of  which  the  latter  said — 

We  cannot  be  sufficiently  thankful  for  him.  The  only 
complaint  we  have  to  make  of  him  is,  that  he  works  so 
hard  that  there  is  a  danger  of  our  too  soon  losing  the 
blessing  of  such  a  Bishop. 


DR.   HOOK'S   FAREWELL.  103 

My  father  always  remembered  with  pleasure 
having  been  able  to  number  among  his  clergy, 
though  only  for  two  years,  the  great  Vicar  of  Leeds. 
And  he  preserved  with  affectionate  interest  Dr. 
Hook's  farewell  letter  to  him  on  his  appointment  to 
the  deanery  of  Chichester. 

The  Rectory,  Eydon,  Daventry,  February  25,  1859. 

"My  Lord, — I  can  assure  you  that  none  among  the 
many  letters  of  congratulation  which  have  flowed  in  upon 
me,  has  given  me  more  sincere  satisfaction  than  that  which 
I  have  received  from  your  Lordship. 

I  lament  leaving  your  diocese  and  "dear  old  smoky 
Leeds,"  as  my  children  call  it.  But  my  position  had 
become  anomalous  by  late  Acts  of  Parliament,  especially 
by  that  of  Lord  Blandford  ;  and  the  heavy  responsibilities 
which  rested  upon  me  with  respect  to  the  chapelries  and 
unendowed  churches,  together  with  other  difficulties,  induced 
me,  after  a  day's  consideration,  to  consider  the  offer  of  a 
deanery  as  a  Providential  call  to  an  old  man,  from  an 
active  to  a  contemplative  life. 

I  have  become  so  much  of  a  Yorkshireman  that  I  feel 
that  one  suffers  loss  by  a  removal  to  any  other  county. 

I  have  come  here  on  a  visit  to  my  daughter,  because  I 
could  not  stand  the  kind  of  congratulations  I  received  from 
my  Leeds  friends.  I  have  to  preach  at  Oxford  on  Sunday, 
and  shall  then  return  home. 

I  shall  ever  feel  grateful  for  the  kindness  and  considera- 
tion I  have  received  from  your  Lordship.  And  when  I  have 
ceased  to  be  one  of  your  clergy,  I  hope  you  and  Mrs. 
Bickersteth  will  permit  Mrs.  Hook  and  myself  to  be 
numbered  among  your  friends. 

I  am,  my  Lord, 
Your  dutiful  and  obliged  servant, 

W.  F.  HOOK. 
The  Lord  Bishop  of  Ripon. 


CHAPTER   VII. 

DIOCESAN   WORK:    PREACHING. 

The  chief  duty  of  a  bishop — Incessant  preaching — Outdoor  services — 
"  Gig  Bishops  "—Sympathy  with  sufferers  from  the  Oaks  Colliery 
disaster — A  Sunday  at  Barnsley — Watchfulness  and  energy — 
Confirmations — Tact  in  winning  over  Dissenters  to  the  Church — 
Letter  from  Sir  E.  Baines. 

"  PR.EDICATIO  evangelii  est  praecipuum  munus  episco- 
porum."  This  is  the  motto  which  is  placed  in  the  first 
page  of  the  Bible  which  was  the  constant  companion 
of  Bishop  Bickersteth  in  his  journeys  throughout  the 
diocese.  The  quotation  is  taken  from  the  decrees 
of  the  Council  of  Trent,1  and  my  father  cordially 
accepted  it  as  a  true  definition  of  the  chief  function 
of  a  bishop.  It  has  been  often  said  that  he  was 
eminently  a  preaching  prelate.  In  his  parish  work 
he  had  laboured  incessantly  to  win  souls  for  God 
by  preaching  Christ.  He  was,  before  all  things, 
an  "  evangelist ; "  and  in  his  eyes  the  chief  attrac- 
tion of  the  office  of  a  bishop  was,  that  it  gave  wider 
opportunities  of  preaching  the  everlasting  Gospel  of 
the  Prince  of  Peace.  He  desired  to  preach  in  every 
parish  of  his  diocese.  By  his  study  table  hung 

1  Sess.  V.  De  Reformatione,  Cap.  II. 


INCESSANT  PREACHING.  105 

a  list  of  all  the  churches,  and  one  by  one  those 
were  marked  off  in  which  he  had  had  an  oppor- 
tunity of  preaching.  He  was  ready  for  all  occasions. 
As  he  said  at  a  public  luncheon  in  Bradford,  in 


There  were  so  many  claims  on  a  bishop,  that  it  was 
impossible  for  him  to  meet  them  all.  Certainly  some  of 
the  clergy  were  ingenious  in  finding  out  reasons  why  they 
thought  the  Bishop  ought  to  attend  their  parish  and  preach. 
He  had  been  asked  to  preach  a  charity  sermon  for  the 
purpose  of  draining  a  churchyard  ;  and  again,  he  had  been 
desired  to  preach  for  the  purpose  of  raising  a  harmonium, 
These  objects  were  certainly,  in  one  sense,  insignificant  ; 
but  it  had  very  rarely  occurred  that  he  had  not  complied 
with  the  demands,  as  he  believed  that  one  of  the  greatest 
functions  of  a  bishop  was  to  preach  the  Word. 

It  mattered  little  to  the  Bishop  why  they  asked 
him  to  preach,  for  he  felt  that  God  called  him  to 
deliver  His  message.  Wherever  he  was  he  spoke 
as  the  messenger  of  God,  and  as  one  who  was 
charged  with  the  care  of  the  souls  of  men. 

It  was  the  fashion  in  the  early  days  of  the 
Oxford  Movement  to  disparage  the  value  of  preach- 
ing. It  was  said  that  people  thought  too  much  of 
preaching  and  too  little  of  worship.  And  there  is 
a  sense  in  which  this  is  certainly  true  ;  but  earnest 
men  have  recognised  that  preaching  the  Gospel  is 
the  necessary  preliminary  to  any  worship  worthy 
of  the  name.  This  was  certainly  the  method  of  men 
like  Dr.  Hook,  whose  work  at  Leeds  was  not 
accomplished  without  incessant  preaching.  Often 
he  would  preach,  especially  in  Lent,  day  after  day  ; 
for  he  knew  that  if  men  were  to  use  the  Sacraments 


106      LIFE    OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

aright,  and  value  the  other  Services  of  the  Church, 
they  must  be  quickened  by  the  power  of  the  Word. 

By  example  and  precept  my  father  was  never 
tired  of  inculcating  the  same  truth.  Thus,  in  his 
first  Charge,  he  writes — 

With  regard  to  the  ministry  of  the  Word.  It  is  almost 
impossible  to  over-estimate  the  importance  of  preaching. 
It  is  the  distinguishing  ordinance  of  the  Gospel  dispensa- 
tion ;  the  instrumentality  whereby  God  is  ordinarily  pleased 
to  convert  souls,  and  to  save  them  that  believe.  Need  I 
say  that  with  regard  to  the  subject-matter  of  preaching,  the 
one  theme  is  Christ  ? — Christ  in  the  dignity  of  His  Person, 
and  the  all-sufficiency  of  His  Work  ;  Christ,  as  Head  over 
all  things  to  His  Church — Prophet,  Priest,  and  King ;  the 
only  Mediator,  Advocate,  Redeemer,  Theme  of  all  prophecy, 
and  Anti-type  of  all  type  ;  Christ,  as  crucified  for  our  sins, 
according  to  the  Scriptures,  and  risen  again  for  our  justifi- 
cation ;  Christ,  as  ever  living  to  intercede  for  those  who 
believe  in  His  Name  ;  Christ,  as  ordained  of  God  to  be  the 
Judge  of  quick  and  dead  ;  Christ,  as  the  sinner's  substitute, 
who  of  God  is  made  unto  every  believer  wisdom,  and 
righteousness,  and  sanctification,  and  redemption ;  the 
Author  and  Finisher  of  our  faith,  the  Giver  of  all  grace, 
and  the  Fountain  of  all  blessing.  This  is  our  one  theme, 
"  We  preach  not  ourselves,  but  Christ  Jesus  the  Lord." 
"  Whom  we  preach,  warning  every  man,  and  teaching  every 
man  in  all  wisdom  ;  that  we  may  present  every  man 
perfect  in  Christ  Jesus." 

Such  being  the  subject-matter  of  our  preaching,  great 
is  the  importance  of  the  manner  in  which  the  message  is 
delivered.  Public  attention  is  keenly  alive  at  the  present 
day  to  the  defects  of  the  pulpit.  Men  demand  a  great 
deal,  and  eagerly  cavil  at  whatever  comes  short  of  the 
standard  which  they  erect.  What  we  especially  seem  to 
want,  with  regard  to  the  manner  of  our  public  ministrations, 
is  reality,  earnestness,  affection,  and  unction. 


POWER   OF   THE  PULPIT.  107 

We  want  reality.  Possibly  the  reproach  is  not  alto- 
gether undeserved,  that  much  of  the  preaching  of  the 
present  day  is  devoid  of  apparent  reality.  The  preacher 
uses  a  set  of  phrases  which,  however  familiar  to  theological 
students,  are  little  understood  by  common  men.  Thus 
there  grows  up  the  feeling  that  the  preacher  has  not  thrown 
himself  into  the  case  of  the  hearer  ;  that  there  is  a  want  of 
sympathy  between  the  messenger  and  those  to  whom  the 
message  is  brought.  A  high  standard  of  spiritual  excel- 
lence is  uplifted  and  recommended ;  but  sufficient  care  is 
not  exercised  to  point  out  the  means  whereby,  in  depend- 
ence on  Divine  grace,  this  standard  may  be  reached. 

Possibly,  if  we  used  greater  plainness  of  speech,  and 
endeavoured  to  point  out  the  connection  between  vital 
religion  and  all  the  diversified  cares,  pleasures,  trials,  or 
pursuits  of  daily  life,  there  would  be  the  appearance  of 
greater  reality,  and  therefore  a  vast  accession  of  power  and 
effectiveness  in  the  delivery  of  our  Master's  message. 

So,  again,  with  regard  to  earnestness.  If  the  preacher 
be  not  thoroughly  in  earnest  himself,  it  will  be  hard  to 
make  his  hearers  so.  If  he  really  is  in  earnest,  he  will 
make  it  appear  that  he  is  so.  I  do  not  mean  that  this  is  to 
be  done  by  vehemence  of  manner  or  of  gesture.  There  is 
a  gravity  and  solemnity  which  ought  never  to  be  absent 
from  our  pulpit  ministrations.  But  when  a  man  feels 
strongly,  the  strength  of  feeling  will  display  itself  in  an 
earnestness  of  tone,  of  look,  of  utterance,  which  none  can 
mistake.  And  what  can  justify  a  man  in  being  thoroughly 
in  earnest,  if  not  the  feeling  that  he  stands  up  as  an 
ambassador  for  Christ,  to  plead  with  his  fellow-men  for  the 
salvation  of  their  immortal  souls,  and  that  of  those  souls 
he  must  give  account  at  the  bar  of  Christ  ? 

Again,  there  must  be  affection  and  unction.  We  need 
affection  like  that  which  filled  the  Apostle  Paul,  and  gushed 
forth  in  such  expressions  as  these  :  "  My  heart's  desire  and 
prayer  for  Israel  is,  that  they  might  be  saved  ; "  "  My  little 
children,  of  whom  I  travail  in  birth  again  until  Christ  be 
formed  in  you ;"  "Many  walk  of  whom  I  have  told  you  often, 


108      LIFE   OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

and  now  tell  you  even  weeping,  that  they  are  the  enemies  of 
the  cross  of  Christ."  And,  in  addition  to  this,  we  need  that 
unction  which  shall  make  it  plain  that  the  truth  we  preach 
is  "  with  the  Holy  Ghost  sent  down  from  Heaven  ; "  that 
it  is  not  a  mere  theory,  but  a  living  reality,  and  that  what 
we  have  heard,  what  we  have  seen  with  our  eyes,  what  we 
have  looked  upon,  and  our  hands  have  handled,  of  the 
Word  of  Life, — that  we  declare  unto  men. 

For  twenty  years  my  father  was  able  to  go  on 
preaching  incessantly,  and  in  days  of  health  and 
strength  often  preached  to  overflowing  congrega- 
tions three  times  a  day. 

The  author  of  "  Our  Bishops  and  Deans  "  pub- 
lishes a  letter  from  a  friend,  who  describes  a  Sunday 
which  he  spent  in  company  with  the  Bishop  :— 

When  staying  with  a  manufacturer,  an  old  friend  of 
mine  near  Barnsley,  I  had  an  example  of  the  Bishop's 
labours.  He  was  a  guest  with  the  manufacturer,  and  that 
Sunday  preached  three  times,  each  time  extempore,  with 
great  power  and  feeling,  and  wonderful  simplicity.  The 
Bishop  was  quite  forgotten  in  the  earnest  preacher.  He 
preached  that  day  in  three  different  churches,  which  were 
all  filled  with  attentive  congregations.  The  intelligent 
artisans  of  the  manufacturing  districts,  I  believe,  know  how 
to  appreciate  the  devotion,  simplicity,  and  natural  eloquence 
of  their  good  Bishop.  His  presence  in  the  pulpit  is  noble 
and  impressive,  and  his  manner  dignified,  and  yet  at  the 
same  time  humble.  As  I  accompanied  the  Bishop  that 
Sunday  from  church  to  church,  I  could  not  help  rejoicing 
in  the  immense  amount  of  good  his  preaching  must  effect 
throughout  his  diocese,  in  the  course  of  successive  years. 
And  I  understood  this  was  a  sample  of  his  ordinary  Sun- 
days. There  are  few  of  our  bishops  who  are  serving  their 
generation  more  faithfully  and  self-denyingly  and  suc- 
cessfully. 


A   DISSENTER'S   OPINION.  1 09 

Nor  was  my  father's  preaching  confined  to  stated 
sermons  to  ordinary  congregations,  and  Confirmation 
addresses.  He  was  never  happier  than  when  taking 
part  in  mission  services,  or  addressing  large  bodies 
of  men  supposed  to  be  outside  the  pale  of  the  Church. 
In  days  when  the  idea  of  episcopal  dignity  was 
much  stiffer  than  it  is  now,  my  father  caused  some 
surprise  to  old-fashioned  people  by  delivering  an 
address  to  the  crowd  which  assembled  to  witness  the 
consecration  of  a  cemetery. 

To  him  the  episcopal  acts  of  consecration  with 
legal  formalities  were  incomplete  without  something 
to  express  the  overflowing  desire  of  a  heart  that 
yearned  over  the  people  committed  to  his  care.  He 
would  take  such  an  opportunity  to  speak  in  language 
of  the  utmost  plainness  to  those  who  gathered  as 
mere  sightseers,  of  the  great  realities  of  death  and 
judgment,  which  lay  behind  the  unhappy  divisions 
of  Christian  people,  and  which  concerned  churchmen 
and  Dissenters  alike. 

The  writer  well  remembers  listening  to  such  an 
address  at  the  consecration  of  a  cemetery.  He  stood 
beside  a  Dissenter  who  listened  at  first  with  critical 
interest,  and  then  with  rapt  attention ;  and  when  the 
Bishop's  words  were  done,  he  heard  him  say,  "  If 
Church  parsons  were  all  like  '  yon/  there  would  be 
no  dissent." 

Nor  was  it  only  in  the  manufacturing  districts 
that  the  Bishop  won  the  hearts  of  the  people.  The 
venerable  Archdeacon  Boyd,  whose  bright  example 
has  done  so  much  for  the  Church  in  the  West 
Riding  during  the  last  fifty  years,  was  among  the 
first  to  recognise  the  simple  earnestness  of  his  new 
Diocesan. 


110      LIFE   OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

In  those  days  churchmen  generally,  led  by 
"  S.  G.  O.,"  in  the  Times,  were  asking  for  what  they 
called  "  Gig  Bishops."  The  days  when  it  was  thought 
natural  for  a  bishop  to  drive  about  in  a  coach  and 
four  were  passing  away ;  and  as  my  father  made 
his  first  appearance  at  Arncliffe  in  the  humble  vehicle 
which  had  brought  him  across  the  moors  from 
Pateley,  Mr.  Boyd  rejoiced  in  the  fulfilmentof  his  ideal. 

It  often  happened  in  the  Yorkshire  dales  that  all 
those  who  came  over  the  hills  to  hear  the  Bishop 
could  not  find  places  in  the  church  ;  and  then,  when 
prayers  were  over,  he  would  gladly  preach  from  a 
tombstone  to  those  who  were  gathered  outside. 

The  Bishop  was  so  strongly  possessed  with  the 
parochial  instinct,  that  he  was  never  happier  than 
when  he  could  arrange  to  spend  a  whole  Sunday 
with  some  earnest  clergyman.  On  those  occasions 
he  would  visit  the  schools,  speak  to  the  teachers, 
address  the  children,  and  enter  into  all  the  parochial 
machinery  with  eager  interest ;  and  it  was  no  empty 
phrase  he  often  repeated  in  his  Charges,  that  he 
longed  to  share  in  the  labours  of  the  clergy. 

The  Rev.  Clement  Cobb,  sometime  his  chaplain, 
gives  a  graphic  account  of  my  father's  conduct  on 
the  occasion  of  a  terrible  disaster — the  explosion  of 
the  Oaks  Colliery  at  Barnsley,  on  December  12, 
i 866:— 

"  I  had  charge,"  he  writes,  "  of  one  of  the  parishes  in 
Barnsley  ;  and  the  explosions  having  happened  on  the  Wed- 
nesday and  Thursday  previously,  I  received  a  letter  from 
the  Bishop  on  Saturday,  to  say  that  as  he  was  sure  we 
should  want  much  help,  and  as  he  had  no  engagement  for 
the  Sunday,  he  would  come  and  assist  us. 


A    COLLIERY  DISASTER.  Ill 

"  When  he  arrived  we  drove  up  to  the  colliery,  and  saw 
the  sad  sight  of  a  crowd  of  new-made  widows  standing  at 
the  pay-offices,  to  draw  the  last  wages  of  their  husbands. 

"  We  went  into  the  room  where  was  weeping  the  widow 
of  the  steward,  and  the  Bishop  knelt  down  and  commended 
her  and  the  wailing  crowd  outside  to  the  Father  of  mercies. 
"  The  lips  and  faces  quivered  with  emotion  at  his  genial 
and  outspoken  sympathy.  A  black  rain  was  steadily  pour- 
ing on  our  dismal  streets  and  courts  where  these  poor  men 
had  lived.  We  went  into  the  house  of  one  widow  whose 
husband  and  sons  were  lost.  She  said,  '  All  my  house  is 
lost  down  that  pit.'  He  knelt  down  on  the  stone  floor  to  ask 
for  her  comfort.  In  another  cottage,  a  woman  rocking  on 
her  bed  in  grief  told  us  she  had  lost  all  her  five  sons  in  the 
explosion.  '  Ach  ! '  she  said,  '  but  they  were  good  lads,  and 
they  were  good  sons.'  The^Bishop  told  her  of  Aaron,  about 
whom  it  is  written,  that  when  he  lost  both  his  sons  in  one 
day  he  held  his  peace. 

"  At  my  house  in  the  evening  some  of  the  influential  gen- 
tlemen of  the  place  came  to  meet  the  Bishop,  who  readily 
gave  us  his  sage  and  business-like  advice  about  our  efforts 
to  raise  a  sustentation  fund  for  the  widows  and  orphans,  in 
which  we  succeeded  to  the  extent  of  ^"60,000.  On  Sunday 
he  preached  solemn  and  touching  sermons  in  each  of  our 
three  churches,  and  accompanied  me  to  the  cemetery  where 
I  think  about  seventy  bodies  which  had  been  got  out  after 
the  explosion  were  to  be  interred,  in  the  presence  of  multi- 
tudes of  sympathisers.  Five  coffins  and  five  parties  of 
mourners  were  received  in  the  chapel  at  one  time.  The 
Bishop  put  on  a  surplice  and  took  his  turn  with  his  clergy, 
each  undertaking  one  set  of  five  at  a  time  for  service,  first 
in  the  chapel,  and  secondly  at  the  graves.  So  in  work  he 
made  himself  one  of  the  clergy,  and  in  heart  one  of  the 
people." 

In  later  years  I  remember  an  unhappy  scandal, 
when  a  clergyman  made  the  terrible  mistake  of  refus- 
ing to  bury  a  parishioner  until  an  exorbitant  fee  was 


112      LIFE    OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

paid.  My  father  heard  of  the  case,  and  was  hardly 
prevented,  though  weak  and  ill  at  the  time,  from 
undertaking  a  journey  of  some  hours  to  perform  the 
last  offices  in  person  for  the  unfortunate  people,  who 
were  the  victims  of  the  clergyman's  misguided 
folly.  He  told  me  that  in  his  earlier  days  he 
would  certainly  have  gone,  but  contented  himself 
very  reluctantly  with  telegraphing  to  the  nearest 
clergyman  to  set  the  matter  right. 

It  was  this  sort  of  watchfulness  over  details,  and 
readiness  to  undertake  any  work  in  person,  which 
made  his  administration  seem  so  vigorous  and  suc- 
cessful. 

His  constant  activity  soon  made  him  familiar 
with  almost  every  parish  in  the  diocese,  and  large  as 
the  area  was,  it  was  hardly  possible  for  anything 
to  occur  in  its  remotest  corner  which  escaped  his 
observation.  A  gentleman  whose  official  duties 
called  him  to  all  parts  of  the  diocese  wrote  to  my 
mother  a  letter  of  sympathy,  in  which  he  said — 

I  desire  to  bear  very  ample  testimony  to  the  real  love — 
there  is  no  other  word — with  which  the  Bishop  was  every- 
where regarded.  So  far  as  I  know,  I  do  not  remember  a 
parsonage  where  his  portrait  did  not  hang,  often  twice  or 
thrice  ;  and  in  the  best  parlour  of  the  glebe  houses  it  was 
seldom  absent.  Churchwardens  in  out  of  the  way  villages, 
and  on  those  hills  and  in  those  dales  the  Bishop  so  much 
admired,  have  told  me  curious  anecdotes  of  his  wonderful 
recollection  of  minute  details  which  happened  years  and 
years  ago,  and  the  reproofs  administered  to  them  for  neg- 
lected recommendations. 

For  the  purpose  of  his  Visitations  my  father 
collected  statistics  with  extraordinary  care.  Great 


HIS  FIRST  CHARGE.  113 

piles  of  MS.  testify  to  the  laborious  industry  with 
which  he  tabulated  the  answers  to  his  inquiries. 
People  were  sometimes  surprised  that  he  insisted  on 
doing  with  his  own  hand  work  which  might  have 
been  easily  done  by  others  ;  but  he  felt  the  time  was 
well  spent,  for  it  served  to  impress  upon  his  mind 
the  circumstances  of  every  parish  in  the  diocese. 

His  first  Charge  was  delivered  in  1858  ;  and  by 
that  time,  after  a  residence  at  Ripon  of  less  than 
two  years,  he  had  made  himself  acquainted  with 
the  details  of  diocesan  work  in  a  way  that  com- 
pletely astonished  those  who  heard  it. 

With  reference  to  this  Charge,  the  Rev.  W.  N. 
Molesworth  wrote  to  the  Guardian  on  May  i,  1884. 
He  says — 

Shortly  after  the  appointment  of  Dr.  Bickersteth  to  the 
See  of  Ripon,  I  met  Dr.  Hook ;  and,  after  our  first  greet- 
ings, I  said,  "  Well,  how  do  you  like  your  new  Bishop  ? " 
rather  expecting  an  unfavourable  answer ;  but  the  reply 
was  a  warm  eulogy  of  the  newly-appointed  Prelate,  con- 
cluding with  the  words,  "  There  is  not  another  bishop  on 
the  Bench  who  could  have  written  such  a  Charge  as  he  has 
lately  delivered  to  the  clergy  of  his  diocese." 

The  first  Charge,  like  all  the  rest,  does  not 
challenge  comparison  with  the  utterances  of  bishops 
who  are  essentially  theological  students.  He  was 
rather  fitted,  alike  by  previous  training  and  natural 
inclination,  to  suggest  to  the  clergy  methods  of 
practical  work. 

He  had  to  complain  in  the  first  Charge  that 
there  were  still  a  considerable  number  of  churches 
where  the  Holy  Communion  was  celebrated  less 
frequently  than  once  a  month.  He- says — 


114      LIFE    OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

It  is  most  desirable  that  in  every  parish  church  the 
Lord's  Supper  should  be  celebrated  at  least  once  in  the 
course  of  every  month.  I  cannot  regard  it  as  a  sufficient 
reason  for  infrequent  Communions  that  the  number  of 
those  who  frequent  the  ordinance  is  small.  A  scanty 
attendance,  when  it  occurs  habitually,  may  be  due  to 
ignorance  or  misapprehension.  Surely  this  should  supply 
a  motive  for  multiplying,  in  place  of  diminishing,  the 
opportunities  for  the  exercise  of  so  plain  a  duty.  The 
proportion  of  communicants  to  the  regular  congregation 
in  any  given  church  will  generally  afford  an  index  of  the 
extent  to  which  vital  religion  prevails.  How,  then,  can  it 
be  otherwise  than  a  source  of  painful  anxiety  to  a  minister 
who  is  watching  for  souls,  as  "one  that  must  give  an 
account,"  when  the  average  number  of  communicants  falls 
habitually  below  what  he  might  reasonably  expect  ? 

In  each  succeeding  Charge  he  is  able  to  notice 
a  steady  improvement,  alike  in  the  number  of  com- 
municants and  in  the  frequency  of  Celebrations. 

In  those  days  early  Celebrations  were  a  novelty, 
at  least  in  the  North,  but  my  father  was  able  to 
quote  from  his  own  experience  as  to  their  great 
value. 

He  went  on  to  speak  of  the  great  importance 
of  Confirmation,  and  expressed  his  readiness  to 
increase  the  number  of  centres.  The  clergy  soon 
took  advantage  of  his  readiness  to  do  so,  and 
thus  in  the  course  of  his  episcopate  the  annual 
number  of  Confirmations  rose  from  nineteen  to 
sixty-three. 

In  Confirmation  my  father  took  a  real  delight. 
Often  he  would  take  two  or  three  Confirmations 
a  day,  for  weeks  together,  so  as  to  meet  the  wishes 
of  the  clergy,  who  naturally  like  to  have  their  candi- 


CON  FIRM  A  TION  ADDRESSES.  1 1  5 

dates  confirmed  in  Lent,  in  readiness  for  the  great 
Festival  of  Easter. 

There  was  a  wonderful  freshness  about  the 
addresses.  To  the  candidates  he  spoke  of  the 
solemn  responsibility  of  the  step  they  were  taking, 
and  never  failed  to  remind  them  of  the  privilege 
they  would  henceforth  enjoy  of  becoming  regular 
communicants. 

It  was  no  part  of  my  father's  Evangelical  creed 
to  disparage  the  value  of  the  Sacraments ;  and  if 
his  language  sometimes  fell  short  of  what  High 
Churchmen  desired  in  defining  the  nature  of  the 
Mystery,  they  never  had  cause  to  complain  that  he 
did  not  give  the  Holy  Communion  a  prominent 
place.  He  constantly  urged  upon  the  clergy  the 
duty  of  keeping  together  those  who  had  been  con- 
firmed, and  pressed  them  all  to  keep  a  speculum 
gregis,  or  list  of  communicants. 

A  clergyman  told  the  writer  how  once,  when  the 
Bishop  was  present  at  a  gathering  of  so-called  Evan- 
gelical clergy,  he  pointedly  asked  them  why  it  was 

that  Mr. ,  a  well-known  High  Churchman,  was 

so  much  more  successful  than  themselves  in  keeping 
together  his  communicants.  It  was  terrible  to  my 
father  to  feel  that  any  who  gloried  in  the  name  of 
Evangelicals,  should  be  behindhand  in  the  exercise 
of  pastoral  care. 

Other  clergymen  gratefully  remember  how  the 
Bishop  would  ask  them,  before  the  Confirmation, 
whether  there  was  any  special  subject  they  wished 
him  to  mention,  and  how  he  always  strove  to  give 
emphasis  to  the  teaching  the  candidates  had  already 
received.  Sometimes  when  the  candidates  in  country 


II 6      LIFE    OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

districts  were  listless  and  inattentive,  he  would  pause 
to  ask  them  questions ;  but  it  was  very  seldom  that 
he  failed  to  secure  the  deepest  attention  before  he 
proceeded  to  administer  the  Apostolic  Rite.  Usually 
my  father  repeated  the  words  several  times  as  he 
passed  along  the  communion  rails,  but  he  was 
always  glad  to  fall  in  with  the  wishes  of  the  incum- 
bent ;  and  on  more  than  one  occasion  he  consented 
to  sit  down  and  confirm  the  candidates  two  and 
two. 

In  some  places  it  was  not  easy  to  secure  a 
fitting  degree  of  reverence.  Sometimes  the  church 
would  be  crowded  with  mere  sightseers,  who  had 
no  notion  of  the  solemnity  of  the  service.  My 
father  would  speak  a  few  earnest,  words  ;  and  even 
if  the  old-fashioned  galleries  were  full  of  Dissenters, 
or  persons  quite  ignorant  of  Church  order,  the 
Bishop's  manner  soon  reduced  them  to  attention. 

Confirmations  in  Yorkshire  are  very  different 
from  those  in  the  South.  In  not  a  few  parishes 
a  large  proportion  of  those  confirmed  in  recent  years 
have  been  adult  converts  from  Dissent ;  and  in 
many  cases  those  who  come  to  be  confirmed  do  so 
in  spite  of  considerable  opposition  from  their  com- 
panions in  the  mills. 

In  one  large  parish  where  the  Bishop  was 
confirming,  it  came  to  his  knowledge  that  a  local 
Dissenting  minister  had  circulated  tracts  dissuading 
the  people  from  Confirmation,  and  pouring  contempt 
upon  the  ordinance  of  the  Church.  A  large  congre- 
gation assembled  when  the  Bishop  arrived,  and  he 
took  with  him  into  the  pulpit  a  copy  of  the  tract 
which  had  gained  considerable  notoriety. 


EVANGELICAL    CHURCHMANSHIP. 


Answering  its  objections  seriatim,  he  first  gave 
a  lucid  history  of  the  Rite,  showing  how  literally  the 
Church  followed  the  practice  of  the  Apostles  ;  and 
then  spoke  of  the  wickedness  of  trying  to  hinder 
those  who  were  coming  forward  publicly  to  profess 
their  allegiance  to  their  Saviour. 

The  tables  were  completely  turned,  and  no  more 
was  heard,  in  that  parish  at  least,  of  public  opposi- 
tion to  an  ordinance  which  was  capable  of  such 
Scriptural  defence. 

My  father  had  the  gift  of  winning  the  sympathy 
of  those  who  valued  Evangelical  truth,  even  if  they 
had  an  imperfect  view  of  Apostolic  order  ;  and  I 
venture  to  think  that  his  special  tone  of  Evangelical 
churchmanship  was  designed  in  the  Providence  of 
God  to  conciliate  those  who  would  have  resented 
a  more  aggressive  assertion  of  some  doctrines  of 
the  Church. 

His  episcopate  was  a  time  of  transition.  If  it 
was  true  that  when  Dr.  Hook  came  to  Leeds, 
Methodism  was  the  established  religion,  it  is 
admitted  to-day,  by  some  of  those  best  able  to 
judge,  that  while  Dissent  is  losing  ground,  the 
religious  earnestness  of  the  people  is  finding  once 
more  its  centre  in  the  Church.  Those  churchmen 
have  been  most  successful  in  welcoming  back  people 
once  estranged,  who  have  recognised  most  cordially 
all  that  was  good  in  the  old-fashioned  belief.  The 
writer  well  knows  the  value  of  definite  dogmatic 
teaching  ;  and  perhaps  the  time  has  come  for  speak- 
ing out  still  more  emphatically  on  the  spiritual 
constitution  of  the  Body  of  Christ  ;  but  he  is  con- 
vinced that  the  wise  moderation  of  Bishop  Bicker- 


Il8      LIFE   OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

steth  was  as  opportune  as  it  was  successful.  The 
pious  folk  learned  to  trust  him,  and  so  were  led  to 
see  that  the  Church  was  able  to  preach  to  them, 
in  all  its  fulness  and  simplicity,  the  Gospel  they 
loved  so  well. 

My  father  greatly  valued  the  friendship  and 
esteem  of  members  of  the  Nonconformist  body. 
He  liked  to  dwell  rather  on  truths  they  shared  in 
common  than  on  points  of  difference,  however  im- 
portant he  considered  them  to  be.  I  venture  to 
publish  a  letter  which  shows  the  terms  of  affec- 
tionate regard  which  he  enjoyed  with  one  whose 
name  stands  very  high  in  Yorkshire  for  Christian 
principle  : — 

St.  Ann's  Hill,  Burley,  Leeds,  December  8,  1880. 

My  dear  Lord  Bishop, — Your  name  to  my  memorial, 
and  your  cordial  congratulations  on  the  honour  I  am  to 
receive  from  her  Majesty,  are  of  the  highest  value  in  my 
estimation.  For,  much  as  I  respect  the  friendship  of  others, 
it  is  the  sympathy  of  the  true  Christian  that  makes  my 
heart  glow,  and  assures  me  that  I  am  in  the  right  way. 
From  the  days  of  my  conversion  I  have  felt  my  faith 
strengthened  into  assurance  by  my  consciousness  of  the 
love  I  bear  to  the  followers  and  ministers  of  Christ  There- 
fore I  hailed  the  very  sight  of  your  letter,  being  sure  that  it 
would  contain  words  of  Christian  wisdom  and  sympathy ; 
and  so  I  found  it.  Accept,  my  dear  Lord  Bishop,  my  warmest 
thanks  for  your  goodness  in  sparing  some  of  your  precious 
time  to  cheer  and  help  an  old  fellow-pilgrim.  Your  esteem 
is  highly  valuable  to  me,  but  your  "  speech  of  Zion "  is 
much  more  so. 

How  certain  I  am  to  be  right  and  safe,  if  I  can  view 
earthly  honour  as  our  Lord  would  have  viewed  it !  And 
how  should  I  be  put  on  my  guard,  if  I  should  feel  puffed 
up  or  drawn  down  to  backsliding.  May  your  valuable 


LETTER   FROM  SIR   E.   BAINES.  119 

life  be  long  spared,  as  a  teacher  and  example  of  the  doctrine 
and  spirit  of  our  Blessed  Lord  !     And  then  may  we  meet 
amidst  the  unfading  joys  before  the  Throne. 
I  am,  my  dear  Lord  Bishop, 

Yours  most  truly, 

EDWARD  BAINES. 
The  Lord  Bishop  of  Ripon,  D.D. 

In  this  chapter  I  have  tried  to  convey  some 
impression  of  the  way  in  which  my  father  infused 
warmth  and  earnestness  into  the  diocese  by  his 
incessant  preaching,  and  the  contagious  example 
of  a  life  wholly  devoted  to  his  Master's  service. 
His  own  life  was  the  best  commentary  on  the  burn- 
ing words  with  which  he  concluded  his  Charge  in 
1876,  when,  after  twenty  years  of  incessant  work,  he 
was  still  full  of  energy  and  fire  : — 

For  a  season  we  depart,  some  of  us,  probably,  never 
to  meet  again  at  a  similar  Visitation.  We  go  to  resume 
our  wonted  duties  in  that  part  of  the  vineyard  in  which 
Christ  has  appointed  us  severally  to  labour.  May  we  go 
with  an  increased  sense  of  the  magnitude  and  responsi- 
bility of  our  work,  with  fixed  resolve  to  apply  ourselves 
with  redoubled  energy  to  the  fulfilment  of  the  task  which 
God  has  given  us  to  perform.  For  myself,  suffer  me  to 
say,  I  long  to  be  more  and  more  your  fellow-helper,  by 
prayer,  by  counsel,  and  by  sharing,  so  far  as  it  may  be  per- 
mitted to  me,  in  all  your  efforts  for  the  glory  of  God  and 
the  salvation  of  souls.  Ours  is  a  glorious  embassy  ;  to  be 
the  torch-bearers  of  light  to  a  dark  world  ;  the  messengers 
of  pardon  to  the  guilty,  peace  to  the  troubled  conscience, 
salvation  to  a  world  lying  in  ruins.  The  work  is,  indeed, 
one  of  incomparable  difficulty ;  but  we  are  not  left  alone 
in  its  execution.  Our  sufficiency  is  of  God.  His  promise 
ensures  the  requisite  strength  for  the  performance  of  His 
command.  The  presence  of  the  Redeemer  is  never  wanting 


120      LIFE    OF  BISHOP   ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

to  His  faithful  ministers.  "  Lo,  I  am  with  you  alway,"  is 
the  unchanging  promise  given  to  His  faithful  ministers. 
The  same  grace  which  made  Apostles  valiant  for  the  Faith, 
even  when  confronted  by  the  opposing  forces  of  Jewish 
unbelief  and  Gentile  superstition,  so  that  they  counted  not 
their  lives  dear  to  them,  if  only  they  might  finish  their 
course  with  joy  :  the  same  Divine  aid  which  upheld  the 
noble  army  of  Martyrs,  and  sustained  Confessors  amid  the 
tortures  of  the  flame,  is  freely  offered  to  each  one  amongst 
ourselves.  Let  us  be  diligent  while  the  time  lasts.  It 
needs  no  prophetic  insight  to  perceive  tokens  of  a  coming 
consummation.  In  the  stir  and  upheaving  of  nations  and 
systems  ;  in  the  development  of  anti-Christian  heresy ;  in 
the  march  of  infidelity  ;  in  the  visible  pressing  into  the 
kingdom,  of  God's  elect,  we  may  almost  hear  the  distant 
sound  of  the  chariot-wheels  of  the  Son  of  Man  returning  in 
glory  to  judge  the  world.  Yet  a  little  while,  and  the  long- 
delayed,  long-expected  Advent  will  come.  The  Chief 
Shepherd  will  appear,  and  we,  His  ministers,  if  we  have 
been  faithful  to  the  trust  confided  to  our  keeping,  shall 
share  His  triumph  and  inherit  the  promise,  "  They  that  be 
wise  shall  shine  as  the  firmament,  and  they  that  turn  many 
to  righteousness  as  the  stars  for  ever  and  ever." 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

HOME   LIFE   AT  RIPON, 

Home  life  at  Ripon — Depth  and  tenderness  of  domestic  affection — • 
Letters  to  his  wife — The  Palace  and  the  garden — The  village  of 
North  Leys — Spiritual  care  of  the  villagers — Early  rising  and 
methodical  habits— Sundays  at  the  Palace — A  custom  of  the 
Clapham  sect — Letters  to  his  children — Tender  solicitude  for  their 
spiritual  welfare — Advice  on  school  and  college  life — On  ordina- 
tion and  the  choice  of  a  curacy — Happy  relations  with  the 
cathedral  and  city — Dr.  McNeile — Letter  from  Dean  Fremantle 
— Singular  happiness  of  his  home  life — The  first  break  in  1872 — 
Death  of  Ernest — Letter  from  his  tutor — Recollections  of  Rev.  C. 
Cobb. 

IN  many  ways  the  most  difficult  part  of  my  task  is 
to  give  some  account  of  my  father's  life  at  Ripon. 
One  shrinks  from  speaking  too  much  of  those  sacred 
memories,  which,  dear  as  they  are  to  the  home  circle, 
have  little  connection  with  his  public  life.  And  yet 
I  think  people  understand  a  man's  life  and  work 
better  when  they  get  some  idea  of  what  he  was  as 
a  husband,  a  father,  and  a  friend.  It  often  happens 
that  the  publication  of  a  biography  by  a  near  relative 
throws  a  different  complexion  upon  a  public  life,  and 
one  learns  to  know  and  love  a  man  the  better  when 
one  sees  him  at  his  ease. 

The   life   of  Charles   Kingsley,   written   by   his 


122      LIFE    OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

wife,  is  a  case  in  point.  Even  his  books,  which  are 
so  expressive  of  the  real  thoughts  of  a  true  man,  do 
not  teach  us  half  so  much  as  the  record  of  his  ordi- 
nary life  and  talk,  and  the  outpouring  of  his  heart 
in  letters  which  were  never  meant  for  the  public 
eye.  And  there  is  another  book  which  many  who 
read  this  sketch  will  remember,  "  The  Life  of 
Catherine  and  Craufurd  Tait."  The  Archbishop 
was  right  when  he  decided  that  the  record  of  those 
saintly  lives  would  help  a  wider  circle  even  than 
that  of  those  who  were  privileged  to  know  them. 
The  charm  of  that  book,  which  all  its  readers  grate- 
fully acknowledge,  is  that  it  shows  how  the  deepest 
Christian  principle  may  underlie  the  simple  duties  of 
social  and  domestic  life. 

I  am  encouraged  to  say  something  of  my  father's 
private  life  by  the  letters  and  words  of  friends,  who 
say  how  much  they  owe  to  the  charm  of  his  personal 
intercourse. 

No  man  ever  loved  his  wife,  his  children,  and 
his  home  with  more  passionate  devotion.  Those 
who  knew  the  dignified  reserve  and  absorption  in 
his  public  work,  are  hardly  prepared  for  the  tender- 
ness which  comes  out  in  letters  to  his  wife  and 
children  in  the  intervals  of  public  business.  Most  of 
them  are  far  too  sacred  for  any  eye  but  theirs  for 
whom  they  were  intended  ;  but  a  scrap  like  this, 
written  at  the  Bounty  Board,  reveals  what  he  was 
as  husband  and  father : — 

Thank  you  for  your  very  precious  letter  of  this  morning. 
I  am  so  thankful  for  all  you  say  about  the  darling  children, 
and  especially  R.  and  F.  You  cannot  imagine  how  I  long 
to  see  them  sometimes.  I  can  scarcely  bear  to  look  at 


HIS  LOVE   OF  HOME.  123 

little  children   for  the  longing  desire   I  have  to  see  my 


own. 


It  was  a  great  disappointment  during  the  first 
year  or  two  of  his  episcopate  that  he  was  detained 
in  London  all  through  the  spring  and  summer  by 
the  duties  of  Chaplain  to  the  House  of  Lords,  which 
then,  as  now,  devolved  on  the  junior  bishop. 

On  May  15,  1857,  he  writes  from  the  House — 

I  must  send  you  a  line  from  my  new  sphere  of  action  ! 
I  have  just  been  reading  prayers  for  the  first  time.  I  took 
my  seat  last  evening,  and  this  morning,  10.30,  have  com- 
menced my  duties.  The  Bishop  of  London  has  asked  me 
to  dine  with  him  on  Monday,  the  Lord  Chancellor  for 
Wednesday,  the  Archbishop  for  Thursday,  so  that  I  shall 
have  as  much  dining  out  during  next  week  as  is  good,  if 
not  rather  more.  I  met  nearly  all  the  bishops  yesterday. 
They  were  all  very  friendly  and  kind. 

Soon  afterwards  he  writes — 

I  am  rejoicing  to  think  I  shall  be  with  you  this  day 
week ;  but  I  am  quite  dreading  the  future,  for  I  find  there 
is  the  greatest  difficulty  in  getting  the  duty  taken.  The 
House  of  Lords  is  quite  uncertain  as  to  the  time  it  meets, 
and  I  am  obliged  to  be  always  in  the  way. 

The  Palace  at  Ripon  was  built  in  the  time  of 
Bishop  Longley,  and  it  was  a  source  of  unfailing 
interest  to  him  and  to  his  successor  to  watch  the 
trees  he  had  planted  gradually  growing  up  around 
the  Palace,  and  surrounding  the  house  with  a  belt 
of  leafy  verdure.  The  garden  was  attractive;  the 
roses  on  the  terrace  were  the  admiration  of  the 
neighbourhood.  The  laurel  walks ;  the  shady  path 
through  the  wood ;  the  mound  upon  the  lawn  ;  the 
old  chestnuts  that  flanked  the  west  parlour,  as  it 


124      LIFE    OF  BISHOP   ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

was  called  before  the  H  olden  Library  was  built ;  the 
apple  tree,  which  went  on  bearing  though  its  roots 
were  mostly  above  ground,  and  the  tree  prone  upon 
its  face, — were  landmarks  as  dear  to  the  Bishop  as  to 
his  children.  No  country  squire  with  ample  leisure 
was  more  particular  than  my  father  in  keeping  every- 
thing in  perfect  order.  A  broken  railing,  or  a  gate 
off  its  hinges,  was  soon  detected  in  some  ramble 
with  his  children ;  and  the  gardeners  knew  that  the 
Bishop's  oversight  of  his  temporal  possessions  was 
as  vigilant  as  the  watch  which  he  kept  upon  his 
flock.1 

About  half  a  mile  from  the  Palace  northwards 
is  the  little  village  of  North  Leys,  containing  two 
farmhouses  and  a  dozen  or  more  cottages.  My 
father,  following  the  example  of  Bishop  Longley, 
took  this  as  a  semi-parochial  charge,  and  constantly 
visited  the  sick  and  the  poor.  He  used  to  tell  with 
great  satisfaction  the  story  of  his  greeting  from  a 
poor  woman  in  the  village.  On  his  first  visit  to  the 
Palace,  accompanied  only  by  his  eldest  boy,  he 
repaired  to  the  village  to  make  the  acquaintance  of 
his  poorer  neighbours.  He  was  greeted  in  the  first 
cottage  at  the  door  of  which  he  knocked  by  a 
poor  woman,  who  first  indulged  herself  with  a  good 
look  over  her  visitor,  and  then  said  with  thorough 
Yorkshire  bluntness,  "Well,  thou  beest  our  new 
Bishop,  I  suppose  !  Thou  bearest  a  pretty  good 
character.  I  hope  thou  deservest  it!"  If  the  vil- 
lagers of  North  Leys  were  polled  after  a  pretty  long 

1  My  father  sought  to  recommend  the  Dilapidation  Act  to  the  clergy  by 
his  own  example.  He  invited  the  Diocesan  Surveyor  to  inspect  the  Palace 
and  the  premises,  that  the  expenditure  in  painting  and  repairs  might  be  done 
under  his  direction,  and  that  the  Bishop  might  hold  the  five  years'  certificate. 


THE    VILLAGERS   OF  NORTH  LEYS.  125 

experience,  they  might  be  trusted  to  own  that  the 
Bishop  had  proved  himself  a  good  friend  to  them. 

In  St.  Giles's  my  father  had  been  deeply  in- 
terested in  the  question  of  providing  better  dwell- 
ings for  the  poor,  and  at  North  Leys  he  found  that 
there  was  in  this  respect  much  room  for  improve- 
ment. He  was  never  satisfied  until  he  had  induced 
the  Ecclesiastical  Commissioners  to  pull  down  the 
insanitary  tenements,  of  which  there  were  too  many 
specimens  in  the  village,  and  to  build  in  their  place 
a  row  of  substantial  cottages.  He  considered  all  the 
plans,  and  insisted  on  an  adequate  supply  of  light, 
water,  and  sleeping  accommodation,  with  as  much 
care  as  though  he  had  nothing  else  to  do.  He  in- 
vited the  villagers  to  attend  the  chapel  services  on 
Sunday  afternoon,  and  in  his  busiest  days  found  time 
to  visit  his  little  flock.  There  are  frequent  entries  in 
his  diary  such  as  these,  taken  from  different  years  : — 

Aug.  30. — Rose  at  6.  Mr.  F.  and  Mr.  Wise  called.  Very 
busy  writing.  Held  a  Confirmation  in  Ripon  Minster  at  2  ; 
a  large  number  confirmed.  Called  on  Geldart's  boy  and 
Mrs.  Hardy  in  the  village  afterwards.  Wrote  some  of  my 
Charge  in  the  evening. 

July  14. — My  groom  attacked  with  illness  ;  in  great 
danger.  May  the  Lord  be  merciful  to  him  for  Jesus  Christ's 
sake. 

March  5. — Rose  at  5.45.  Busy  with  correspondence  all 
the  morning.  Walked  with  B.  to  the  village  in  the  after- 
noon. Snow  deep  on  the  ground.  Called  on  Mrs.  H. ; 
prayed  with  her. 

Jan.  2. — Called  on  Mrs.  A.,  who  is  seriously  ill ;  adminis- 
tered the  Holy  Communion  to  her. 

April  30. — In  the  afternoon,  with  B.,  called  on  all  the 
poor  people  in  the  hamlet. 


126      LIFE   OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

The  Church  lands  surrounding  the  Palace  were 
all  made  over  to  the  Ecclesiastical  Commissioners, 
so  my  father  had  not  the  obligations  of  a  landlord  ; 
but  he  cultivated  friendly  relations  with  the  farmers, 
who  all  felt  that  in  any  dealings  with  the  Commis- 
sioners the  Bishop  would  be  sure  to  stand  their 
friend. 

In  his  children's  sports  my  father  took  the 
keenest  interest,  and  it  gave  him  real  pleasure  to 
hear  of  a  good  day's  shooting  or  a  large  capture 
of  the  perch  in  Queen  Mary's  Dubs.  His  own  chief 
recreation  was  riding,  and  he  was  known  as  an 
excellent  horseman.  When  the  shocking  news  of 
Bishop  Wilberforce's  death  from  the  fall  of  his  horse 
reached  Ripon,  it  was  remembered  by  those  who 
had  seen  the  Bishop  and  my  father  ride  together, 
that  the  former  had  not  so  safe  a  seat  as  his 
Northern  brother.  My  father  thoroughly  enjoyed 
a  good  gallop  across  country  with  his  children,  and 
he  also  had  much  pleasure  in  quieter  rides,  when 
he  was  accompanied  in  early  days  by  Dean  Erskine, 
or  in  later  years  by  one  of  the  canons  of  the  Minster. 
A  list  of  forty  rides  all  upon  grass  was  compiled  by 
his  desire,  and  many  of  them  went  by  the  name  of 
one  of  the  family,  or  were  called  after  passing  inci- 
dents, trivial  enough  in  themselves,  but  linked  with 
happy  associations.  His  children  remember  how,  in 
later  years,  my  father  would  often  draw  rein  in  some 
silent  wooded  lane,  and  repeat  passages  of  a  sermon 
which  was  revolving  in  his  mind,  to  be  preached  on 
the  next  Sunday  in  some  busy  manufacturing  town. 

The  life  at  Ripon  was  orderly  and  punctual.  For 
the  greater  part  of  his  time  there  my  father  used  to 


ROUTINE   OF  DAILY   WORK.  127 

rise  at  six,  and  the  early  morning  hours  were  spent  in 
devotional  reading,  prayer,  and  meditation.  He  read 
prayers  in  the  chapel  at  nine  o'clock  for  the  house- 
hold and  outdoor  servants,  and  after  breakfast  set 
himself  to  the  task  of  answering  a  great  pile  of 
letters.  He  never  cared  for  the  services  of  a  regular 
secretary  or  chaplain,  but  succeeded  in  getting 
through  all  his  writing  in  person  by  his  singularly 
orderly  and  methodical  habits.  He  answered  every 
letter  by  return  of  post  with  his  own  hand,  till  quite 
recent  years,  when  he  availed  himself  of  his  daughter's 
help.  At  the  same  time,  however,  he  owed  an 
immense  debt  of  gratitude  to  his  Ripon  secretary, 
Mr.  Samuel  Wise,  whose  ripe  judgment  and  unfail- 
ing courtesy  were  valued  as  much  by  the  clergy  as 
the  Bishop,  though  the  latter  had  fuller  opportunities 
of  knowing  his  inestimable  private  worth. 

Mr.  Wise  was  the  first  to  welcome  my  father  to 
Ripon,  and  the  Bishop  wrote  not  long  before  his 
death  of  the  "  thoughtful  kindness  in  which,  for  four 
and  twenty  years,  he  had  never  known  him  wanting." 

The  mornings  were  spent  in  writing  and  inter- 
views with  clergy,  lasting  till  two  or  three  o'clock ; 
and  then  would  come  a  ride  or  drive.  The  later 
afternoon  and  evening  were  spent  usually  in  more 
general  reading.  My  father  was  exceedingly  fond  of 
good  English  prose ;  he  generally  had  in  course  of 
reading  some  such  authors  as  Macaulay,  Alison,  or  Sir 
Walter  Scott ;  and  he  also  looked  forward  with  eager 
interest  for  the  arrival  of  new  books,  and  especially 
the  Quarterly  and  Edinburgh  Reviews.  His  own 
library  was  a  good  one,  for  he  spent  on  books  the 
proceeds  of  his  literary  work  in  London ;  and  it 


128      LIFE   OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

was  a  real  pleasure  and  interest  when  Mr.  H olden 
of  Liverpool  left  to  him  and  to  the  See  a  library 
of  some  six  thousand  volumes.  With  the  books 
was  bequeathed  a  sum  of  money,  part  of  which 
was  utilised  in  building  a  room  at  the  Palace  for 
their  reception ;  and  the  remainder  was  invested 
for  the  maintenance  and  increase  of  the  library* 
Up  to  the  time  of  my  father's  death,  however,  there 
was  little  opportunity  for  purchasing  new  books, 
as  a  good  deal  of  the  income  was  swallowed  up  in 
binding,  and  other  preparation  for  eventually  lend- 
ing the  books  to  clergy  and  students  of  divinity. 

After  dinner  my  father  sometimes  found  pleasant 
relaxation  in  a  game  of  draughts  or  chess ;  in  the 
latter  he  was  more  than  usually  proficient.  The 
writer  remembers  that  when  he  was  receiving  his 
first  lessons  in  the  game,  and  was  absorbed  by  its 
strange  fascination,  the  Bishop  suggested  that  it 
was  unsuitable  for  Saturday  nights,  such  was  the 
strong  feeling  he  had  of  the  need  of  preparation 
for  the  due  observance  of  the  Sunday. 

It  is  impossible  for  any  one  to  forget  what  the 
Sundays  were  at  Ripon  on  the  comparatively  rare 
occasions  when  my  father  was  at  home.  He 
always  attended  the  cathedral  in  the  morning  ;  and 
in  the  afternoon  there  was  service  in  the  Palace 
chapel,  crammed  with  a  congregation,  which  com- 
prised not  only  his  family,  servants,  and  villagers 
from  North  Leys,  but  also  included  the  students 
from  the  Training  College  and  visitors  from  Ripon. 
On  these  occasions  my  father  used  to  preach  in  a 
way  that  was  quite  distinct  from  his  ordinary  style, 
but  singularly  impressive  and  persuasive. 


SUNDAYS   AT  RIPON.  129 

After  dinner  on  Sundays  there  was  a  custom, 
handed  down  from  Acton  and  Sapcote  traditions, 
and  continued  long  after  the  elder  children  at  Ripon 
had  left  the  parental  roof,  on  occasions  when  they 
returned  for  a  Sunday  at  home.  Every  one,  includ- 
ing any  guests  who  might  be  present,  was  asked  in 
turn  to  repeat  a  hymn,  beginning  with  the  youngest 
and  ending  with  the  Bishop  himself.  By  this  means 
my  father  took  care  that,  from  their  earliest  days, 
the  minds  of  his  children  should  be  stored  with  a 
rich  treasury  of  all  that  was  best  in  English  hymnody. 
Keble's  " Christian  Year,"  Mrs.  Alexander's  "  Hymns 
for  Little  Children,"  Kemble's  and  Mercer's  collec- 
tions, Lord  Selborne's  "  Songs  of  Praise,"  Hymns 
Ancient  and  Modern,  and  the  Hymnal  Companion 
to  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  were  all  brought 
into  constant  requisition  ;  but  of  the  hymns  which  my 
father  used  to  repeat  himself,  none  were  oftener  on 
his  lips  than  Toplady's  matchless  "  Rock  of  Ages," 
"  O  God,  our  help  in  ages  past,"  a  short  hymn  of 
which  his  own  father  was  the  author,  beginning, 
"  Heaven  is  our  promised,  purchased  home,"  and 
(especially  in  later  years)  "  Jesu,  Thou  Joy  of  loving 
hearts."  The  same  custom  of  repeating  hymns 
after  dinner  on  Sunday  prevailed  in  the  house  of 
my  father's  lifelong  friend,  Mr.  Henry  Thornton, 
of  Battersea  Rise,  at  Clapham  ;  and,  probably,  it  was 
one  of  the  habits  of  the  good  old  Clapham  sect,  not 
the  least  part  of  whose  tenets  was  their  reverence 
for  the  day  of  rest.  I  do  not  think  my  father  ever 
forced  religious  conversation,  but  it  was  easy  to 
see  that  he  was  not  content  if  Sunday  talk  was  not 
befitting  the  day.  For  many  years  whenever  he 

K 


130      LIFE    OF  BISHOP   ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

was  at  home,  he  preached  once  a  month  in  Ripon, 
at  Trinity  Church.  He  also,  from  time  to  time, 
though  at  rarer  intervals,  occupied  the  pulpit  in  St. 
John's  Chapel,  Bondgate,  or  in  the  chapel  attached 
to  the  ancient  almshouses,  on  the  opposite  side  of 
the  Cathedral  city. 

The  letters  to  his  boys  at  school  are  interesting, 
because  they  sometimes  give  glimpses  of  his  work, 
and  always  reveal  a  heart  overflowing  with  tender- 
ness and  solicitude  for  his  children's  spiritual  welfare. 
Thus  he  writes  to  a  son  just  gone  to  Eton  :  — 

The  Palace,  Ripon,  January  28. 

The  day  must  not  pass  without  a  line  to  you,  although 
this  is  my  twenty-fifth  letter,  and  I  am  still  far  from  the 
end  of  what  I  ought  to  do  ;  and  I  am  expecting  all  the 
rural  deans  !  But  it  would  be  strange  indeed  if  my  pen 
could  not  express  what  my  heart  is  full  of  —  tender  love  to 
my  precious  boy,  and  earnest  prayers  that  he  may  be  con- 
stantly kept  under  the  care  and  protection  of  our  Heavenly 
Father.  May  God  bless  you  !  Next  Saturday  !  and  (D.V.) 
we  shall  meet.  All  are  well  ;  the  weather  delightful.  I  have 
had  two  pleasant  rides  with  Trot. 

Ever  your  own  loving 


P.S.  —  I  send  an  autograph  for  the  boy  who  wants  it 

All  the  letters  to  his  children,  even  when  they 
are  written  to  amuse,  and  speak  of  their  shooting 
or  other  sports,  turn  into  a  prayer,  showing  that 
the  uppermost  thought  in  his  mind  was  his  children's 
growth  in  grace. 

Sometimes  the  letters  speak  of  his  work. 
Writing  from  near  Mirfield,  in  playful  allusion  to 
the  not  infrequent  criticism  of  those  who  derided 


PLENTY  OF  HARD  WORK.         131 

Lord    Palmerston's    bishops,    he    says    (September 
28,  1861)— 

Would  my  son  like  to  know  what  the  lazy,  indolent, 
do-nothing  Palmerstonian  Bishop  of  Ripon  has  been  doing 
during  the  last  few  days,  and  has  to  do  before  he  returns 
home  ? 

Saturday,  September  21. — Ordination  at  Ripon  and 
sermon. 

Sunday,  September  22. — Two  sermons  at  H arrogate, 
morning  and  evening. 

Tuesday,  September  24. — Consecration  of  church  and 
churchyard  at  Dunsforth  and  two  sermons. 

Wednesday,  September  25.  —  Sermon  at  Milnsbridge, 
near  Huddersfield,  at  n  ;  and  consecration  of  cemetery 
at  Sowerby  Bridge,  at  4. 

Thursday,  September  26. — Confirmation  in  Halifax 
parish  church,  at  10.30 ;  441  candidates.  Confirmation 
in  Brighouse,  at  3  ;  94  candidates.  Sermon  in  Brighouse, 
at  7.30. 

Friday,  September  27. — Confirmation  in  Batley,  at  1 1  ; 
66  candidates.  Confirmation  in  Dewsbury,  at  3  ;  279 
candidates. 

In  futuro  ! — 

Hodie,  September  28. — Confirmation  in  Mirfield,  at 
10.30.  Consecration  of  churchyard,  at  12.15.  Confirmation 
in  Birstal,  at  3. 

Sunday,  September  29. — Sermon  in  Earls  Heaton,  at 
10.30.  Sermon  in  Ossett,  at  3.  Sermon  in  Earls  Heaton, 
at  6.30. 

Monday,  September  30. — Consecration  of  cemetery  in 
Hanging  Heaton,  at  10.30.  Consecration  at  Cleckheaton, 
at  i.  Go  home. 

I  wonder  what  Palmerston  can  have  been  about  to 
appoint  such  lazy  drones.  They  ought  to  be  made  to 
work.  Don't  you  think  so  !  Farewell,  my  own  precious 
boy.  God  bless  you. 

Ever  your  own  loving 

liarrip. 


132      LIFE   OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

This  letter  may  be  illustrated  by  quotations  from 
his  sermon  register.  He  kept  a  book  showing  the 
number  of  sermons  preached  in  each  year,  no 
mention  being  made  of  Confirmation  Charges  or 
informal  addresses. 

The  list  rises  from  96  in  1857,  to  149  in  1875  ; 
and  even  in  the  year  1880  he  preached  no  less  than 
80  times.1 

Here  is  another  letter,  written  to  a  son  who  had 
to  choose  between  business  and  the  University : — 

My  dearest , — The  great  anxiety  which  I  feel  re- 
specting your  future  prospects  at  this  crisis  leads  me  to  put 
down  my  wishes  in  writing,  and  I  hope  you  will  carefully 
read  this  note  before  my  letter  goes  to  -  -  and  let  me  have 
your  answer  to-morrow.  You  have  a  momentous  choice 
to  make,  and  you  should  seriously  weigh  the  consequences 
involved  in  it.  You  know  my  willingness  to  send  you  to 
the  University,  but  you  must  look  steadily  at  what  this 
involves,  and  count  the  cost  of  it.  Experience  has  taught 
me  the  necessity  of  laying  down  some  fixed  rules  with 
regard  to  University  life.  The  University  is  a  scene  of 
terrific  temptation,  especially  to  the  idle  and  to  any  who 
go  thither  without  a  fixed  purpose,  by  God's  grace,  to  resist 
temptation  and  to  secure  the  intellectual  advantages  which 
the  University  affords.  You  must  clearly  understand  that 
the  only  condition  upon  which  I  send  you  to  Oxford  is, 
that  you  promise  to  practise  industry  and  economy,  with  a 
view  to  obtain  a  good  degree,  with  no  more  expense  than 
is  necessary  to  your  position.  I  wish  you  to  promise  me 
that  while  you  are  at  college  you  will  give  not  less,  as  a 

1  The  following  occurs  in  a  letter  to  one  of  my  brothers  who  was  abroad 
in  1872  :  "  My  father  is  as  busy  as  ever  ;  he  was  away  all  last  week  confirming 
at  Leeds,  Halifax,  and  elsewhere,  and  to-day  he  has  gone  to  confirm  at  the 
Grammar  School  at  Richmond.  Between  Monday  and  Saturday  in  last  week 
he  confirmed  2,800  children,  and  preached  fifteen  times!  I  think  he  is  none 
the  worse  for  it,  in  spite  of  the  weather,  which  has  been  miserably  cold." 


LETTERS    TO  HIS  SONS.  133 

rule,  than  from  seven  to  eight  hours  daily  to  reading, 
including  lectures  ;  that  you  will  keep  morning  chapel  and 
abstain  from  going  to  parties  which  would  draw  you  into 
idleness  and  expense.  In  saying  this,  it  is  not  my  meaning 
to  find  any  fault  whatever  with  you  ;  but  I  think  these  rules 
are  necessary  for  your  success,  and  for  my  own  peace  and 
satisfaction  in  sending  you  to  college.  If  you  will  only 
adhere  to  them,  you  have  sufficient  ability  to  ensure  your 
passing  through  the  University  with  honour  and  credit,  and 
you  will  be  a  source  of  joy  and  comfort  to  us  all.  .  .  . 

Ever  your  loving 

FATHER. 

The  letters  to  his  children  give  ample  evidence 
of  his  unfailing  generosity.  And  in  this  place  it 
should  be  noted,  that  throughout  the  period  of  their 
education  my  father  made  a  point  not  only  of  cor- 
responding regularly  with  his  sons,  but  also  of 
paying  them  frequent  visits  whenever  work  in 
London  or  elsewhere  brought  him  within  reach 
of  them.  Probably  no  public  man  who  led  an 
equally  busy  life  ever  contrived  so  many  opportunities 
of  personal  intercourse  with  his  sons  during  their 
terms  of  residence  at  school  or  college.  His  per- 
sonal self-denial  was  extreme,  and  he  cheerfully 
dispensed  with  holidays  and  trips  abroad  to  secure 
for  his  sons  the  inestimable  blessing  of  University 
education.  To  all  his  children  alike  my  father 
represented  that  the  work  of  a  clergyman  was  the 
highest  and  happiest  calling  on  earth,  but  he  never 
pressed  his  personal  wishes  in  the  least,  and  in  the 
case  of  those  who  did  not  feel  something  of  an 
inward  call,  he  never  uttered  a  word  of  reproach. 

The  writer  possesses  many  letters  written  to 
himself  on  his  approaching  ordination,  and  on  the 


134      LIFE    OF  BISHOP   ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

choice  of  a  curacy,  from  which  the  following  extracts 
are  taken  : — 

I  wish  you  many  happy  returns  of  your  birthday  anni- 
versary, and  pray  that  every  blessing  may  rest  upon  you 
now  and  always.  It  is  likely  to  be  a  most  important 
year  upon  which  you  will  enter  to-morrow.  I  trust  it  will 
witness  your  entering  upon  the  work  of  the  ministry — the 
noblest  calling  which  any  one  on  earth  can  embark  in, 
and,  if  only  entered  upon  with  right  motives,  the  very 
happiest.  No  words  can  describe  all  I  fear  and  desire  in 
your  behalf  in  connection  with  the  great  work  ;  and  I  trust 
that  He  Who  has  guided  you  so  far  will  graciously  bless 
and  prosper  you  in  all  that  lies  before  you. 

In  another  letter  when  the  Rev.  G.  W.  Kennion, 
now  Bishop  of  Adelaide,  had  been  kind  enough  to 
offer  his  son  a  curacy  at  All  Saints,  Bradford,  my 
father  wrote — 

It  weighs  very  much  with  me  that  Mr.  Kennion's  offer 
has  come  unsought  and  unsolicited,  and  may  fairly  be 
considered  as  a  Providential  offer.  All  my  own  steps  in 
the  ministry  have  come  in  the  same  way,  and  this  fact  has 
been  an  inexpressible  comfort  to  me.  Almost  the  only 
place  for  which  I  became  a  candidate  I  did  not  get.  I  do 
not  attribute  much  importance  to  your  having  a  longer 
stay  than  till  next  Lent  at  the  clergy  school.  You  will 
have  been  there  fully  six  months  next  Lent,  and  you  are 
not  to  expect  to  go  from  thence  with  an  education  fully 
complete.  Your  whole  ministerial  life  will  be  an  education, 
and  you  will  learn  more  in  a  few  months  of  practical  minis- 
terial work  than  you  would  learn  in  years  of  college  life  in 
Leeds.  I  would  not  wish  to  say  anything  against  a  parish 
church  curacy  in  Leeds,  but  I  think  you  would  learn  more 
and  have  more  experience  in  preaching  in  Mr.  Kennion's 
parish.  You  will  see,  therefore,  which  way  my  inclination 
bends.  I  pray  God  to  guide  you  and  to  bless  you  in  the 


DR.   McNEILE.  135 


momentous  decision  which  you  have  now  to  make.  All 
my  sympathies  and  your  mother's  sympathies  are  with 
you,  and  our  prayers.  May  God  guide  and  bless  you. 

Your  loving  father, 

R.  RlPON. 

With  the  home  life  at  Ripon  is  naturally  con- 
nected the  memory  of  much  happy  intercourse  with 
friends  and  neighbours,  and  the  citizens  of  the  little 
borough,  for  which  my  father  had  a  real  affection.  He 
was  always  ready  to  take  part  in  local  matters :  the 
grammar  school,  the  local  charities,  schemes  for  im- 
provement of  the  city,  had  always  a  claim  on  his 
interested  attention  ;  and  he  took  it  as  a  special  com- 
pliment to  himself  when  one  of  his  sons  who  had 
entered  the  corporation  achieved  the  dignity  of  mayor. 
With  the  cathedral  clergy  and  with  six  successive 
deans,  he  maintained  most  cordial  relations. 

It  was  a  source  of  real  happiness  to  my  father 
when  Lord  Beaconsfield  gave  the  deanery  of  Ripon 
to  the  venerable  Hugh  McNeile.  My  father  had 
stood  beside  him  in  Liverpool,  and  on  the  platform 
of  Exeter  Hall,  and  used  to  tell  us  of  his  extra- 
ordinary power  as  an  orator,  and  his  influence  as  a 
champion  of  Evangelical  truth.  Dean  McNeile  was 
already  in  failing  health  when  he  came  to  Ripon,  but 
there  were  times  when  the  old  fire  of  his  eloquence 
broke  out,  and  his  dramatic  power  held  spell-bound 
the  cathedral  congregation. 

My  father  felt  how  much  a  younger  generation 
lost,  who  never  knew  him  at  his  best ;  but  for  himself 
it  was  a  source  of  keen  enjoyment  to  have  the  oppor- 
tunity of  hearing  him  preach,  and  to  talk  over  sub- 
jects on  which  they  shared  intense  convictions. 


136      LIFE    OF  BISHOP   ROBERT   BICKERSTETH. 

There  were  those  who  thought  that  Dean 
McNeile  was  an  unlikely  man  to  superintend  the 
restoration  of  the  Minster ;  and  yet  it  was  in  his 
time  that  not  only  was  the  restoration  of  the  material 
fabric  brought  to  a  successful  consummation,  but 
also  the  long-neglected  double  daily  service  was 
restored,  and  a  precentor  appointed — the  Rev.  S. 
Joy — under  whose  guidance  the  choir  was  brought 
to  a  state  of  efficiency  and  a  point  of  reverence  and 
order  which  left  little  to  be  desired. 

Perhaps  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  my  father's 
hearty  interest  in  and  advocacy  of  these  reforms  were 
the  means  of  removing  the  scruples  of  a  Dean,  whose 
natural  bent  was  not  in  the  direction  of  merely 
ecclesiastical  improvement. 

Certainly  the  Bishop  took  a  keen  delight  in  the 
cathedral  service,  and  whenever  it  was  possible  he 
walked  in  from  the  Palace,  a  distance  of  nearly  two 
miles,  to  be  present  at  the  daily  evening  prayers. 

The  venerable  Canon  Worsley,  who,  though 
many  years  his  senior,  survived  my  father,  wrote  to 
say  how  much  the  Chapter  was  indebted  in  old  days 
to  the  Bishop's  ready  co-operation  and  tact.  And 
the  following  letter  from  the  present  Dean  will  be 
of  interest  to  many  : — 

The  Deanery,  May  10,  1886. 

Dear  Miss  Bickersteth, — You  have  asked  me  to  send 
you  some  reminiscences  of  my  friendship  with  your  dear 
father.  I  will  endeavour  to  put  together  a  few  thoughts 
which  may  add  to  the  many  expressions  of  affection  for 
him  you  have  no  doubt  received.  My  acquaintance  with 
the  Bishop  dates  back  a  good  many  years,  and  has  always 
worn  the  same  complexion  of  respect  and  love.  I  had  not 


LETTER   FROM  DEAN  FREMANTLE.  137 

been  thrown  much  with  him  in  private  or  social  life  until 
I  came  to  Ripon  ;  but  from  my  intimacy  with  his  uncle, 
Edward  Bickersteth  of  Watton,  and  with  other  members 
of  his  family,  I  have  always  felt  that  I  knew  him,  as  I  knew 
them  ;  and  this  enabled  me  to  form  the  high  estimate  of  his 
character  which  I  have  always  had.  I  was  brought  into 
nearer  acquaintance  with  him  publicly  upon  his  appoint- 
ment to  St.  Giles's,  when,  through  the  late  Bishop  Villiers 
and  Alexander  Dallas,  I  came  to  know  more  of  his  paro- 
chial and  missionary  work  ;  and  from  that  day  to  the  day 
of  his  death  have  followed  with  admiration  the  steady, 
faithful,  and  courageous  consistency  of  his  conduct,  which 
has  been  so  great  a  help  to  myself  and  to  many  others  in 
these  days  of  change  and  of  controversy.  I  do  not  hesitate 
to  say  that  when  the  appointment  to  the  deanery  was 
offered  to  me,  the  prospect  of  being  under  the  shadow  of 
your  father  and  being  brought  into  association  with  him 
in  diocesan  work,  was  one  of  the  principal  inducements  to 
my  acceptance  of  this  office ;  and  I  shall  not  forget  the 
solemn  and  loving  manner  in  which  he  welcomed  me  to 
Ripon,  and  after  prayer  instituted  me  to  the  deanery.  It 
would  be  difficult  for  me  to  refer  to  any  particular  events 
during  the  last  ten  years.  I  must  speak  generally  of  my 
official  and  social  intercourse.  In  them  I  was  always 
struck  with  his  prompt  decision  and  business-like  way  of 
dealing  with  the  subjects  which  were  brought  before  him. 
As  chairman  of  a  committee,  or  as  president  of  a  con- 
ference or  congress,  he  specially  excelled.  There  was  a 
profound  reality  in  his  decision  arising,  as  it  always 
appeared  to  me,  from  the  depth  of  his  sense  of  responsi- 
bility. With  some  this  might  appear  to  assume  an  air  of 
coldness  and  reserve ;  but  his  conception  of  duty  was  of  a 
high  order,  and  he  seemed  to  have  known  what  St.  Paul 
says,  2  Cor.  ii.  17  :  "  As  of  sincerity,  but  as  of  God,  in  the 
sight  of  God  speak  we  in  Christ." 

In  the  part  I  have  taken  to  erect  a  fitting  tribute  to  his 
memory,  by  placing  a  grand  west  window  in  the  Cathedral 
in  the  place  of  one  upon  which  he  never  looked  without  a 


138      LIFE    OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

sigh,  I  have  received  many  letters  full  of  the  most  affec- 
tionate regard  from  all  parts  of  the  diocese  ;  and  I  trust  that 
the  example  he  has  left  us  of  what  a  bishop  can  be  in  all 
godliness,  consistency,  and  zeal,  may  never  be  lost  in  the 
annals  of  the  Church  of  England  and  the  clergy  of  this 
diocese. 

I  am  yours  affectionately, 

W.  R.  FREMANTLE. 

When  my  father  came  to  Ripon  his  family  con- 
sisted of  four  sons  and  one  daughter,  and  in  the 
following  year  the  youngest  son  was  born.  Up  to 
1872  there  was  little  to  mar  the  singular  happi- 
ness of  his  home  life  ;  but  in  that  year  came  a  heavy 
trial,  in  the  sudden  death,  in  the  nineteenth  year  of 
his  age,  of  the  fourth  son,  Edward  Ernest.  This 
event,  the  first  shadow  of  death  upon  our  home, 
may  justify  a  slight  digression,  for  Ernest  was  one 
who  cannot  easily  be  forgotten  by  many  besides  the 
members  of  his  own  family.  His  childhood  was 
full  of  promise,  and  his  ways  were  wonderfully 
winning.  As  a  boy,  his  uncommon  beauty  had 
attracted  the  notice  of  Mr.  Sant,  who  met  him  when 
staying  with  his  parents  at  Battersea  Rise,  the  home 
of  their  kind  friends  and  constant  hosts,  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Henry  Thornton.  The  artist,  whose  pictures 
of  children  are  so  justly  prized,  begged  to  be  allowed 
to  paint  Ernest's  picture,  which  was  exhibited  in  the 
Academy  in  1865.  His  face  was  the  index  of  no 
ordinary  mind.  After  his  first  term  at  Eton  his 
tutor  wrote  as  follows  : — 

My  Lord, — I  do  not  think  there  can  be  many  pleasures 
in  the  life  of  a  tutor  equal  to  that  of  writing  an  account  of 
a  boy  who  has  done  well  and  met  with  deserved  success. 


HIS   SON  ERNEST  AT  ETON.  139 

I  do  not  much  care  to  tell  you  of  the  honours  which  Ernest 
has  gained,  and  which  he  has  probably  told  you  himself. 
I  think  his  perseverance  and  evident  interest  in  his  work 
are  points  more  worth  dwelling  on  than  the  success  which 
happens  to  have  rewarded  them.  .  .  .  He  has  a  scholar- 
like  and  accurate  mind,  and  is  fond  of  acquiring  knowledge. 
He  has  also  a  keenness  in  competition  which  I  think  he 
will  not  allow  to  mislead  him.  I  am  glad  to  see  also  that 
he  takes  a  vivid  interest  in  things  exterior  to  his  school- 
work,  and  has  a  thoroughly  healthy  tone  of  mind.  The 
way  in  which  he  has  been  prepared  reflects  great  credit  on 
the  school  he  was  at  before  he  came  to  Eton.1  With  regard 
to  other  matters,  he  has  a  reverence  for  sacred  things,  and 
a  love  of  what  is  good,  which  gives  a  public  and  an  ever- 
increasing  value  to  a  clever  boy's  influence.  You  will  see 
from  what  I  have  written  that  I  have  a  very  warm  affec- 
tion for  the  boy.  His  simplicity,  and  his  desire  to  please 
me  and  to  do  his  duty,  have  quite  won  my  heart ;  but  I  do 
not  think  I  have  been  partial  in  what  I  have  said.  The 
fact  is,  it  is  very  hard  to  over-estimate  the  reasons  which 
one  has  for  taking  pleasure  in  a  good  boy.  The  good  that 
may  be  done,  the  value  of  example,  and  the  pleasure  of 
feeling  that  one's  work  is  appreciated,  are  considerations 
which  make  it  a  real  pleasure  to  have  to  do  with  such  boys. 
I  have  one  other  boy  near  him  in  school  who  is  rather  like 
him.  To  see  these  two  working,  and  the  mutual  influence 
of  what  they  did,  has  been  a  study  of  the  greatest  interest. 
With  regard  to  his-  Trials,  I  was  surprised  at  his  taking 
so  high  a  place,  for  in  some  of  the  papers  of  which  I  saw 
the  marks,  I  thought  he  had  done  less  well  than  I  should 
have  expected  ;  e.g.  in  the  Greek  Testament  and  divinity 
paper.  But  I  saw  none  of  the  composition,  in  which  he  is 
very  accurate. 

Believe  me,  my  Lord, 

Yours  very  faithfully, 

ARTHUR  JAMES. 

1  My  father  placed  all  his  sons  in  turn,  under  the  care  of  the  Rev.  R.  S. 
Tabor,  at  Cheam. 


140      LIFE    OF  BISHOP   ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

The  promise  of  his  first  term  was  sustained. 
He  passed  through  Eton  with  credit,  and  entered 
King's  at  Cambridge,  in  January,  1872.  In  the 
long  vacation  of  that  year  he  went  abroad  with  an 
Eton  master  and  an  old  schoolfellow.  One  summer 
evening  in  July  there  came  a  letter  to  say  that  he 
had  caught  a  chill  on  the  top  of  Strasbourg  Cathe- 
dral, and  was  lying  seriously  ill  at  Baden  Baden. 
Not  many  hours  afterwards  a  telegram  summoned 
my  father  to  come  at  once,  but  it  was  too  late.  He 
died  with  no  relatives  at  hand,  and  his  father  only 
arrived  in  time  for  one  last  look  at  his  beloved  child 
before  he  was  laid  to  rest  in  the  beautiful  hillside 
cemetery  far  away  from  home.1 

This  blow,  all  the  more  crushing  because  my 
father  had  good  hope  that  Ernest  would  be  the  first 
of  his  sons  to  take  Holy  Orders,  was  borne  by  the 
Bishop  with  a  Christian  fortitude  remarkable  to  those 
who  knew  the  intensity  of  his  paternal  affection.  For 
years  afterwards  he  was  as  strong  and  vigorous  for 
public  work  as  ever  ;  and  though  the  home  at  Ripon 
was  never  the  same  again,  amid  the  disappointment 
of  the  brightest  earthly  hopes,  he  looked  forward  to 
the  reunion  with  loved  ones  in  the  Eternal  Home  in 
meek  submission  to  the  Will  of  God.  Many  letters 
of  friends,  which  have  been  gratefully  preserved, 
show  that  others  outside  his  family  recognised  that 
the  death  of  Ernest  was  no  ordinary  bereavement. 
A  schoolfellow  and  college  friend  wrote  of  him— 

1  A  white  marble  cross,  erected  by  my  father,  marks  his  grave.  His  parents 
also  founded  in  his  memory  a  small  lending  library  in  connection  with  the 
British  chaplaincy  at  Baden  Baden.  It  is  known  as  the  Bickersteth  Memorial 
Library,  and  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  it  is  much  appreciated  by  the 
English  community. 


A    SUDDEN  BEREAVEMENT.  141 

Your  letter  only  came  this  morning.  You  must  know 
the  grief  it  is  to  me,  for  I  think  you  knew  more  than 
any  one  how  much  I  loved  him.  The  happy  days  at 
Helsdon  I  remember  as  if  they  were  yesterday.  He  was 
the  most  lovable  person  I  ever  knew ;  so  bright  and  yet 
so  very  tender  to  others.  His  friendship  for  the  last  five 
years  has  made  those  years  the  happiest  of  my  life,  and  as 
such  I  shall  remember  them,  with  his  figure  standing  out 
most  prominently  in  the  memory.  I  think  you  are  right 
in  saying  that  he  would  not  have  been  altogether  a  happy 
man.  I  often  talked  with  him  about  his  anxieties  as  to  a 
profession,  and  often  thought  that  he  would  be  always  rest- 
less in  his  eager  aspirations.  He  confided  to  me,  at  Cam- 
bridge, a  plan  of  his  for  doing  good  to  the  poor — going 
among  them  as  one  of  them — which  seemed  to  strike  his 
imagination  as  possible,  and  which  touched  his  tender 
heart.  Almost  my  first  thought  was  of  you,  whether  you 
were  with  him,  and  I  am  glad  to  know  you  were.  He  will 
have  many  mourners  besides  his  own  family,  for  there  was 
no  one  who  attached  his  friends  to  him  as  he  did,  and  there 
is  no  one  I  could  less  easily  resign.  I  cannot  say  half  of 
what  I  feel,  for  it  is  too  soon  yet  to  realise  that  the  boy  I 
loved  best  in  the  world  I  shall  see  never  again ;  it  seems 
so  hard  to  lose  him  after  such  a  short  five  years.  I  re- 
member now  bitterly  that  I  never  saw  him  to  say  good- 
bye before  he  started  ;  little  omissions  are  magnified  now 
by  grief.  But  there  will  always  remain  the  great  thankful- 
ness for  having  known  him  and  loved  him.  It  was  very 
good  of  you  to  think  of  writing  to  me,  a  part  of  the  great 
kindness  with  which  you  have  always  looked  upon  my  love 
for  him. 

The  writer,  whose  name  will  be  learned  with 
interest,  is  the  Hon.  and  Rev.  Arthur  Lyttelton, 
Master  of  Selwyn,  and  examining  chaplain  to  the 
present  Bishop  of  Ripon.  Another  letter  from  a 
relative  runs  as  follows — 


142      LIFE    OF  BISHOP   ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

We  met  an  Eton  master  who  spoke  so  highly  of  your 
dear  boy  Ernest,  as  one  of  "rare  excellence."  "  A  character 
you  seldom  meet  with,"  he  said  ;  "  too  good  to  be  long  for 
this  earth." 

But  perhaps  the  most  touching  tribute  of  all  to 
Ernest's  memory  was  that  which  appeared  a  few 
weeks  after  his  death  in  the  magazine  conducted 
by  his  former  schoolfellows.  The  following  extract 
is  taken  from  the  first  number  of  the  Eton  College 
Chronicle  for  the  next  ensuing  half-year,  and  those 
who  read  the  pathetic  and  unaffected  words  of  grief 
will  probably  agree  that  no  apology  is  needed  for 
their  reproduction  in  these  pages. 

Hn  J^Umoriam. 

The  worthy  son  of  a  noble  father  is  dead.  Edward 
Ernest  Bickersteth  has  gone  "  where  the  wicked  cease  from 
troubling,  and  the  weary  are  at  rest."  He  died  at  Baden, 
of  fever,  July  30,  1872. 

Many  who  read  this  will  have  known  him  :  some  as 
a  passing  school  acquaintance,  others  as  a  valued  friend  ; 
besides  those  in  whom  his  whole  life  was  bound  up  by  the 
ties  of  the  warmest  affection,  and  who  will  ever  connect 
with  his  dear  name  the  happy  and  unfading  memories  of 
their  boyish  days.  All  these,  from  first  to  last,  must  and 
will  lament  the  untimely  end  of  him  who  is  as  deeply  and 
poignantly  regretted  in  his  death  as  he  was  beloved 
and  cherished  in  his  life. 

Thus  will  the  memory  of  our  dead  schoolfellow  re- 
main with  us,  hallowed  and  unforgotten  among  the  many 
Etonians  who  have  so  lately  died,  who  are  "ever  going, 
thick  and  fast,  like  falling  leaves." 

The  picture  of  the  Bishop's  home,  which  it  has 
been  the  object  of  this  chapter,  however  slightly,  to 
pourtray,  can  best  be  supplemented  by  a  further 


RECOLLECTIONS   OF  REV.    C.    COBB.  143 

quotation  from  Mr.  Cobb,  who  was  so  intimate  a 
guest  at  the  Palace,  and,  as  one  of  his  chaplains, 
in  such  frequent  attendance  on  my  father  in  his 
travels  through  the  diocese,  that  his  reminiscences 
have  a  special  value.  He  writes— 

My  little  sketch  would  not  be  complete  if  I  did  not  say 
a  word  about  my  observations  on  his  domestic  and  personal 
character.  It  was  a  marvel  to  me  to  witness  the  combina- 
tion of  domestic  tenderness  with  public  energy — thought- 
ful love  for  his  own  with  abounding  labours  abroad.  I 
suppose  such  a  combination  is  a  sign  of  real  greatness.  I 
can  picture  him  to  myself  riding  in  the  lovely  lanes  about 
Ripon,  with  a  whole  troop  of  pony-mounted  children,  all 
radiant  with  health  and  joy.  With  surprise  and  admira- 
tion, knowing  his  enormous  correspondence,  I  heard  him 
say  to  one  of  his  boys  just  returning  to  school,  "  Now, 

,  if  you  will  write  to  me  once  a  week,  I  promise  to  do 

the  same  to  you;"  and  I  saw  him,  just  as  the  intense 
strain  of  an  Ordination  was  over,  himself  closing  and  direct- 
ing a  school  hamper  for  one  of  his  sons. 

The  dark  shadow  of  a  terrible  loss  passed  over  the 
home,  and  if  his  grief  for  his  own  bereavement  could  not 
be  concealed,  his  tender  care  to  shelter  others  from  every 
circumstance  which  might  reopen  healing  wounds  was 
still  more  conspicuous.  Often  he  would  say,  "  It  is  not 
work,  but  worry,  which  kills  a  man."  And  when,  in  addi- 
tion to  his  enormous  burden  of  public  work,  domestic  trials 
became  mingled  with  that  soothing  peace  of  home  which 
most  of  all  recruits  the  man  who  labours  to  weariness 
abroad,  it  was  impossible  not  to  see  that  native  energies 
were  strained  almost  beyond  power.  But  the  good  Bishop 
lived  in  a  power  and  strength  beyond  his  own,  and  I  well 
remember  his  saying  to  me,  as  we  were  driving  about  to 
the  scenes  of  his  labours  in  the  magnificent  country  of  the 
West  Riding,  "The  thoughts  which  are  ever  floating 
about  my  mind  and  at  present  bear  me  up,  when  power  to 


144      LIFE    OF  BISHOP   ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

bear  seems  to  be  almost  overborne,  are  those  of  the 
beautiful  hymn — 

"  Abide  with  me  ;  fast  falls  the  eventide  ; 
The  darkness  deepens  ;  Lord,  with  me  abide  ; 
When  other  helpers  fail,  and  comforts  flee, 
Help  of  the  helpless,  O  abide  with  me." 

His  warm  affection  and  geniality  as  a  friend,  his  bright- 
ness and  self-forgetting  courtesy  as  a  host,  the  patience, 
carefulness,  and  sagacity  of  his  counsels,  will  never  be  for- 
gotten by  the  writer  of  these  lines,  and  seem  like  a  bright 
dream  gone  for  ever  and  too  soon. 

"  And  the  stately  ships  go  on 

To  their  haven  under  the  hill ; 
But  O  for  the  touch  of  a  vanish 'd  hand, 
And  the  sound  of  a  voice  that  is  still  ! 

"  Break,  break,  break, 

At  the  foot  of  thy  crags,  O  Sea  ! 
But  the  tender  grace  of  a  day  that  is  dead 
Will  never  come  back  to  me. " 

Never  on  earth ;  but  those  who  were  privileged  to  know 
and  to  love  our  dear  Bishop  here,  and  who  belong  to  the 
same  Master  he  so  faithfully  served,  will  have  the  fountains 
of  pleasure  in  association  with  him  gush  forth  once  more, 
when  they  see  the  many  gems  which  will  shine  in  the 
crown  he  will  lay  at  that  Master's  Feet.  I  think  the  first 
sermon  I  ever  heard  him  preach  was  from  the  text,  "  The 
Lord  God  is  a  sun  and  shield :  the  Lord  will  give  grace 
and  glory :  no  good  thing  will  He  withhold  from  them  that 
walk  uprightly.  O  Lord  of  Hosts,  blessed  is  the  man  that 
trusteth  in  Thee."  That  blessedness  he  is  realising  as  "  he 
rests  from  his  labours." 


CHAPTER  IX. 

DIOCESAN    WORK:    CHURCH  BUILDING   AND    CHURCH 
RESTORATION. 

Church  building  and  restoration — Movement  in  the  great  towns — 
Splendid  liberality  of  Yorkshire  churchmen — Letter  to  a  non-resi- 
dent incumbent — Jealous  regard  for  the  interest  of  the  Church  and 
tenderness  in  censuring  defaulting  clergy — Letters  from  friends  of 
one  to  whom  the  Bishop  specially  ministered,  and  from  Bishop 
Kennion  of  Adelaide. 

THE  last  fifty  years  have  shown  a  marvellous  de- 
velopment of  activity  in  the  erection  of  new  churches 
and  the  restoration  of  others  which  had  long  suffered 
from  ruin  and  neglect.  To  give  some  idea  of  the 
work  accomplished  during  my  father's  episcopate,  I 
quote  the  figures  compiled  by  the  Rev.  Canon 
Kempe,  the  indefatigable  editor  of  the  Ripon  Dio- 
cesan Calendar.  He  writes — 

In  1836,  when  the  See  of  Ripon  was  constituted,  the 
population  of  the  diocese  was  870,000;  in  1856,  when  Bishop 
Bickersteth  succeeded  Bishop  Longley,  1,120,000;  and  in 
1 88 1  had  increased  to  nearly  1,600,000.  During  the  epis- 
copate of  Bishop  Longley  137  churches  were  consecrated 
in  the  diocese,  of  which  113  were  new  parish  churches,  1 8 
were  churches  rebuilt  or  enlarged,  and  six  were  chapels  of 
ease,  built  for  the  most  part  in  more  or  less  remote  hamlets 

L 


146      LIFE    OF  BISHOP   ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 


of  large  parishes.  During  the  episcopate  of  Bishop  Bicker- 
steth  158  churches  were  consecrated,  of  which  92  were  new 
parish  churches,  47  were  churches  rebuilt  or  enlarged,  and 
19  were  chapels  of  ease.  In  1836  the  number  of  incum- 
bents was  418,  and  of  curates  146  ;  and  in  1883  the  number 
of  incumbents  had  risen  to  500,  and  of  curates  to  266.  In 
1857,  tne  first  year  of  Bishop  Bickersteth's  episcopate,  the 
number  of  Confirmation  centres  was  19,  and  the  number  of 
persons  confirmed  was  3753  ;  in  1883  the  Confirmation 
centres  were  63,  and  the  number  confirmed  10,781  ;  so  that 
whilst  the  population  increased  by  some  50  per  cent,  the 
number  of  persons  confirmed  increased  by  nearly  200  per 
cent. 

The  following  Table,  extracted  from  the  Bishop's 
Charges  for  1867,  1870,  1873,  1876,  and  1879,  shows 
the  sums  raised  and  expended  in  the  diocese  for 
Church  purposes  during  the  fifteen  years,  1864  to 
1878  inclusive,  (i)  For  the  increase  of  church  ac- 
commodation, (2)  For  the  restoration  of  churches, 
(3)  For  the  erection  or  enlargement  of  schools,  (4) 
For  the  building  of  parsonage  houses,  and  (5)  For 
the  augmentation  of  endowments,  irrespective  of  all 
contributions  to  societies,  diocesan  or  general :— 


1864-6. 

1867-9. 

1870-2. 

1873-5. 

1876-8. 

Total. 

I 

2 

3 
4 
5 

£ 

112,498 
87,468 
41,021 
40,098 
27,780 

£ 

112,514 

88,678 

59,197 
36,767 

33,059 

£ 

63,227 
106,042 
119,081 

39,569 
16,147 

£ 

98,773 
"3,38o 
99,576 
41,986 
40,958 

£ 

137,400 
87,892 

47,415 
14,512 

30,024 

£ 
524,412 
483,460 
366,290 
172,932 
147,968 

Total 

308,865 

330,215 

344,o66 

394,673 

317,243 

1,695,062 

The  work  of  church  building  was  promoted  not 
only  by  the  Diocesan  Society  to  which  allusion  has 
already  been  made,  but  by  the  local  societies  formed 


ERECTION  OF  NEW  CHURCHES.  147 

by  the  public  spirit  of  the  wealthy  manufacturers  in 
the  large  West  Riding  towns. 

Twice  did  the  churchmen  of  Leeds  meet  together 
to  hear  an  address  from  the  Bishop  and  the  Vicar  on 
the  spiritual  destitution  of  the  town,  and  twice  they 
pledged  themselves  to  the  erection  of  at  least  ten  new 
churches.  Like  results  have  been  achieved  in  Brad- 
ford, Huddersfield,  Dewsbury ;  and  the  local  pride 
has  been  turned  to  good  account  when  men  have 
vied  with  one  another  in  works  to  promote  the  glory 
of  God  and  the  good  of  their  poorer  neighbours. 

In  the  country  districts,  if  there  has  been  less 
need  for  the  erection  of  new  churches,  the  age  has 
been  especially  one  of  restoration.  In  the  course 
of  Confirmation  tours  the  Bishop  never  missed  an 
opportunity  of  calling  attention  to  churches  which 
were  unfit  for  their  purpose,  and  squires  and  parsons 
alike  were  stimulated  by  his  pointed  rebukes. 

My  father  used  to  tell  with  some  satisfaction  the 
story  of  a  church  in  the  Archdeaconry  of  Richmond 
which  sorely  needed  restoration.  There  was  no 
resident  squire ;  the  newly-appointed  incumbent 
was  young  and  inexperienced,  and  much  as  he 
desired  to  see  his  church  restored  he  knew  not  how 
to  begin.  The  Bishop  volunteered  his  services. 
He  asked  the  clergyman  to  call  the  farmers  to- 
gether, and  himself  met  them  in  the  schoolroom. 
He  talked  to  them  in  that  homely  way  in  which  he 
knew  how  to  go  straight  to  Yorkshire  hearts,  com- 
menced a  subscription  list  with  a  substantial  dona- 
tion from  himself,  and  there  and  then  obtained  from 
the  farmers  present  the  promise  of  a  sum  which 
enabled  them  to  commence  the  work  at  once. 


148       LIFE    OF  BISHOP   ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

Nor  was  the  Bishop's  idea  of  a  restoration  easily 
satisfied.  The  writer  remembers  that  he  went  with 
his  father  many  years  ago,  when  the  Bishop  was  to 
preach  at  the  reopening  services  of  a  church  which 
had  been,  as  the  promoters  thought,  thoroughly 
restored.  When  the  village  was  reached  it  turned 
out  that  nothing  had  been  done  except  the  merest 
necessary  repairs,  and  the  churchwardens  had  sought 
to  cover  all  deficiencies  by  a  plentiful  use  of  white- 
wash. Doubtless  they  expected  a  sermon  which 
would  eulogise  their  efforts  and  praise  a  magnificent 
restoration ;  but  the  Bishop  from  the  pulpit  called 
attention  to  the  unsightly  pews  and  structural  defects 
which  still  remained,  and  urged  them  not  to  rest 
content  until  they  had  made  their  church  far  more 
worthy  of  the  worship  of  Almighty  God. 

On  the  other  hand,  when  the  work  showed  signs 
of  generous  sacrifice  and  loving  zeal,  the  Bishop  did 
not  withhold  words  of  hearty  approbation  which 
are  gratefully  remembered.  Thus  in  the  course  of 
a  sermon  at  Netherthong  he  said — 

Now,  my  brethren,  you  would  be  disappointed  if  I  did 
not  say  a  word  with  regard  to  the  occasion  which  has 
brought  us  together  to-day.  I  do  sincerely  congratu- 
late you  upon  what  you  have  done  for  the  restoration  of 
this  church.  I  cannot  look  upon  the  change  which  has 
been  effected  in  this  sacred  edifice  without  feeling  that  it 
reflects  the  greatest  possible  credit  upon  all  who  have  been 
concerned  in  carrying  out  the  work,  whether  by  contribut- 
ing the  necessary  funds,  or  by  managing  the  details  which 
have  resulted  in  our  having  a  church  now  so  thoroughly 
fit  for  a  place  of  public  worship,  in  which  you  may  meet  to- 
gether to  pray,  and  to  praise  our  God  and  Father  in  Heaven. 
We  rejoice  in  all  such  works  of  restoration,  not  because  we 


CHURCH  RESTORATION.  149 

can  admire  what  is  architecturally  comely  and  beautiful, 
but  because  there  is  a  very  close  connection — depend  upon 
this — between  a  well-ordered  church  and  that  spirit  of  rever- 
ence which  is  an  essential  part  of  true  religion.  Go  into 
one  of  your  churches — happily  they  are  rarely  to  be  found 
now-a-days — one  where,  in  the  first  place,  the  whole  build- 
ing is  blocked  up  with  unsightly  pews,  telling  of  a  spirit  of 
exclusiveness  and  selfishness,  which  is  the  last  spirit  which 
ought  ever  to  be  found  within  the  walls  of  a  building 
devoted  to  the  worship  of  God.  Go  into  a  building  where 
the  walls  are  green  and  mouldy,  where  there  is  no  appear- 
ance of  comfort,  but  every  appearance  of  neglect  or  decay, 
and  what  feeling  of  reverence  is  likely  to  be  produced  in 
such  a  building  as  that  ?  Will  not  all  of  you  say  that  such 
a  building  indicates  a  neglect  and  contempt  of  what  ought 
to  be  found  in  a  place  of  which  we  may  speak  as  a 
palace  for  the  Lord,  and  not  for  man  ?  And  when,  on  the 
other  hand,  we  come  into  such  a  building  as  this,  which  you 
have  cleansed  and  adorned  and  beautified,  we  cannot  but 
feel  as  we  enter  the  building,  that  this  is  indeed  the  house  of 
God,  a  place  where  everything  tends  to  lift  up  the  mind 
from  earthly  to  heavenly  things,  and  to  make  us  realise  the 
truth  that  this  is  none  other  than  the  gate  of  heaven.  I  sin- 
cerely trust  that  this  restored  church  will  be  what  many  a 
restored  church  has  proved  in  other  places — instrumental  to 
a  spiritual  revival  among  the  population.  God  grant  that 
this  church  may  be  a  nursery  for  many,  many  souls  who 
shall  be  nourished  and  developed  in  the  truth  as  it  is  in 
Jesus,  and  prepared  for  that  heavenly  temple  above  not  made 
with  hands. 

Amongst  the  works  of  restoration,  first  and  fore- 
most stands  that  of  the  venerable  Minster  church 
of  Ripon.  The  writer  remembers  his  first  expe- 
rience of  going  to  church  was  sitting  in  one  of  the  old 
green  baize  boxes  which  disfigured  the  fair  propor- 
tions of  the  cathedral  choir.  The  whole  structure 


150      LIFE    OF  BISHOP   ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

betokened  terrible  neglect,  and  the  arrangements 
were  as  unsuited  for  the  due  performance  of  public 
worship  as  those  of  the  most  neglected  parish  church. 
The  responsibility  for  the  cathedral  fabric  and  the 
credit  of  its  restoration  rest,  of  course,  with  the 
dean  and  chapter ;  but  my  father  looked  upon  it 
as  a  diocesan  work,  and  greatly  aided  in  the  collec- 
tion of  funds.  In  1867  he  wrote  in  his  Charge — 

I  must  at  this  time  allude  to  the  efforts  that  have  been 
made  for  the  restoration  of  the  ancient  cathedral  of  Ripon. 
More  than  five  years  have  elapsed  since  active  measures 
were  adopted  with  this  end  in  view.  The  cathedral  was  at 
that  time  in  many  parts  in  a  state  of  perilous  dilapidation. 
Had  not  steps  been  then  taken  for  its  preservation,  it  is 
more  than  probable  that  some  portion  of  it  must  have 
actually  fallen.  Aided  by  public  subscriptions,  which  have 
amounted  to  £18,287,  a  donation  from  the  dean  and  chapter 
in  their  corporate  and  private  capacity,  and  a  grant  of 
£10,000  from  the  Ecclesiastical  Commissioners,  applicable 
only  to  repairs  essential  for  the  safety  of  the  fabric,  the 
Restoration  Committee  have  been  enabled  to  effect  the 
necessary  repairs  ;  but  the  restoration  is  still  far  from  com- 
plete ;  and  from  a  Report  recently  issued  by  the  Committee, 
it  appears  that  the  funds  are  exhausted,  and  a  sum  of  ,£7000 
is  still  required. 

Now,  the  cathedral  is  the  mother  church  of  the  diocese ; 
nor  is  it  fitting  that  the  cathedral  should  be  inferior  to  any 
other  church  in  the  diocese  in  its  external  appearance,  or 
in  its  proper  adaptation  to  the  solemnities  of  Divine  worship. 
The  time  has  arrived  at  which  a  vigorous  effort  should  be 
made  to  raise  the  sum  which  is  required  to  complete  what 
has  thus  far  been  well  and  prosperously  accomplished. 

As  the  result  of  a  pastoral  letter  which  the  Bishop 
put  forth,  accompanied  in  many  cases  by  private, 
personal  appeals,  the  money  was  raised,  and  the 


SPLENDID  LIBERALITY.  151 

restoration  was  completed  in  January,  1867,  at  a 
total  cost  of  ,£40,000.  Amongst  the  parish  churches 
restored  two  stand  out  prominently — Wakefield,  soon 
to  be  a  cathedral;  and  Halifax,  no  less  fit  for  such  a 
purpose. 

Nor  was  this  widespread  zeal  for  church  building 
and  restoration  merely  utilitarian.  In  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Ripon,  by  the  princely  munificence  of 
Lord  Ripon,  who  provided  the  whole  cost  before 
his  lamented  secession  from  our  communion,  and 
Lady  Mary  Vyner,  two  memorial  churches  were 
built  at  Studley  and  Skelton,  which  are  replete  with 
the  most  lavish  adornment,  and  represent  an  outlay 
of  not  less  than  ,£60,000.  But,  in  the  manufacturing 
districts,  churches  have  been  erected  as  noble  gifts 
to  God  and  the  poor,  which  minister  not  to  the 
enjoyment  of  those  who  are  the  favoured  denizens 
of  nature's  fairest  fields,  but  form  the  one  bright 
spot  on  which  the  eye  can  rest  of  those  whose  daily 
toil  confines  them  to  the  unlovely  surroundings  of  a 
busy,  smoke-begrimed  town.  Such  is  the  exquisite 
fabric  erected  by  Colonel  Akroyd  at  Haley  Hill ; 
and  the  noble  church  of  All  Saints,  Bradford.  Here 
Mr.  F.  S.  Powell  built  a  stately  church,  with  schools 
and  a  parsonage  house.  His  large-hearted  chanty 
has  been  rewarded  by  seeing  that  within  twenty 
years  the  parish  has  become  a  model.  Between  700 
and  800  communicants  frequent  the  church  ;  nearly 
2000  scholars  and  teachers  assemble  in  the  schools  ; 
and  not  only  the  church  itself,  but  two  flourishing 
mission  churches  are  filled  with  large  congrega- 
tions of  the  working  class.  It  is  one  instance  out 
of  many  where  the  new-born  zeal  for  church  building 


152      LIFE    OF  BISHOP   ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

has  proved  an  incalculable  benefit  to  the  people.  Nor 
are  the  Leeds  churches  devoid  of  beauty.  St.  Bar- 
tholomew's Armley,  and  All  Souls  (the  Hook  Me- 
morial), to  mention  two  out  of  many,  are  very 
different  from  the  old  chapels  of  ease  which  were 
once  thought  sufficient.  Happily  they  remind  us 
more  of  the  days  when  men  gave  God  of  their  best, 
and  did  not  count  the  cost  when  they  sought  to 
do  honour  to  His  Holy  Name. 

In  all  this  work  my  father  bore  a  share,  not  only 
by  his  wise  counsel  and  unostentatious  liberality, 
but  chiefly  by  the  example  of  sacrifice  in  the  ready 
surrender  of  time,  health,  and  strength  for  God. 
This  was  cordially  recognised  by  clergy  and  laity 
alike,  and  it  would  be  easy  to  quote  scores  of  tributes 
like  this  taken  at  random  from  an  article  in  the 
local  press  reviewing  his  Charge  of  1873  : — 

The  Charge  bears  unconscious  testimony  to  the  inesti- 
mable services  which  the  Right  Rev.  Prelate  has  rendered 
to  the  Church  in  his  own  district ;  for  the  activity  and 
vitality  of  which  it  gives  evidence  are  unquestionably  due, 
in  a  large  measure,  to  the  example  of  zeal  set  by  the  Bishop 
himself. —  Yorkshire  Post,  May  3,  1873. 

But  the  building  and  restoration  of  churches  are 
valuable  chiefly  as  the  expression  of  the  revival  of 
true  religion,  of  which  they  are  only  the  sign  ;  and 
my  father's  labours  were  directed  far  more  to  the 
inward  and  spiritual  than  the  outward  and  visible 
structure. 

His  Charges  are  still  read,  not  so  much  for  the 
statistics  which  he  could  arrange  with  remarkable 
skill,  nor  for  the  weighty  expression  of  his  views  on 
questions  of  current  controversy,  but  because  they 


SPEECH  AT  HUDDERSFIELD.  153 

breathe  throughout  a  spirit  of  fervent  piety,  and 
have  not  lost  their  power  to  stimulate  and  quicken. 

When  he  came  to  Ripon,  in  spite  of  the  untiring 
efforts  of  Bishop  Longley  the  standard  of  spiritual 
life  amongst  the  clergy  was  by  no  means  high.  It 
is  not  so  much  that  there  were  cases  of  moral 
failure  and  open  scandal  as  that  there  was  a  low 
standard  of  clerical  duty. 

In  later  years  my  father  was  fond  of  contrasting 
the  present  with  the  past.  Thus,  in  the  course  of  a 
speech  at  Huddersfield,  he  says — 

If  our  Church  survived  that  long  period  of  deadness, 
coldness,  and  want  of  energy,  and  want  of  vitality,  surely, 
now  that  she  is  in  such  a  state  of  fervent  activity  in  every 
part  of  the  country,  we  may  take  courage,  and  feel  that 
God  will  not  desert  her. 

Let  us  look  at  the  present  state  of  things.  I  confidently 
hazard  the  opinion  that  in  no  past  period  of  our  Church's 
history  since  the  Reformation  has  there  been  —  I  will 
not  say  more — so  much  of  that  activity,  energy,  piety, 
and  devotion  to  their  work  on  the  part  of  the  clergy, 
speaking  of  them  as  a  body,  as  you  have  at  the  present 
day.  Why,  I  can  recollect  in  the  early  period  of  my  history 
a  clergyman  was  thought  very  active  indeed  if  he  preached 
two  sermons  on  the  Sunday.  I  remember  when  I  first 
came  to  this  diocese  twenty  years  ago,  I  went  to  stay  with 
a  gentleman,  who  showed  towards  me  that  hospitality 
which  I  have  experienced  in  such  large  measure  from  the 
laity  in  every  part  of  the  diocese  for  so  long  a  period. 
When  he  heard  that  I  intended  to  preach  three  sermons  on 
the  Sunday,  I  really  think  that  for  the  moment  he  thought 
I  had  left  my  senses  behind.  He  could  not  believe  it. 
He  asked  me  if  I  thought  it  possible  to  do  so.  I  said  I 
did.  You  would  be  amused  if  I  were  to  tell  you  all  the 
kind  and  thoughtful  provision  he  made  for  my  reception 
when  Sunday  came.  He  would  not  let  me  have  a  single 


154      LIFE    OF  BISHOP   ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

meal  with  the  family,  because  I  was  not  to  talk.  He  would 
have  me  left  alone.  He  seems  to  have  thought  I  ought 
to  go  to  bed  between  each  sermon.  He  was  so  careful  of 
me  that  I  really  believe  he  feared  that  I  could  not  survive 
the  exertion.  Thank  God,  I  have  survived  many  a  day  of 
the  kind  since.  The  standard  of  activity  amongst  the 
clergy  has  risen  almost  incalculably,  not  only  in  the  dis- 
charge of  their  public  duty,  but  in  their  parochial  work. 
I  remember  a  clergyman  who  thought  it  was  a  very  peculiar 
kind  of  proceeding  indeed,  not  at  all  becoming  a  clergyman, 
to  go  out  amongst  the  poor  parishioners,  visiting  them  from 
house  to  house.  Now  we  all  hold  that  it  is  a  very  apostolic 
thing  for  a  clergyman,  and  what  St.  Paul  would  have  had 
them  do ;  and  we  consider  it  a  very  great  neglect  on  the 
part  of  clergymen  who  fail  in  the  visitation  of  their  flock. 
I  have  heard  the  same  clergyman  say  that  times  have  so 
much  altered  that  he  had  begun  occasionally  to  lift  the 
latch  of  his  poor  parishioners'  doors  and  visit  them,  and  he 
thought  it  a  great  achievement. 

My  father  helped  to  bring  about  this  change,  not 
only  by  example  and  public  exhortation,  but  by 
not  shrinking  from  the  far  more  difficult  task  of 
personally  appealing  to  those  who  needed  his  fatherly 
admonition. 

Here  is  an  example  of  the  delicate  courtesy  with 
which  such  appeals  were  made  :— 

4,  Gloucester  Square,  Hyde  Park,  July  7,  1858. 

Reverend  and  dear  Sir, — I  have  received  an  applica- 
tion this  week  from  a  gentleman  who  states  that  you  are 
willing  to  give  him  a  title  to  a  curacy,  provided  I  can  accept 
him  as  a  candidate  for  Deacon's  Orders.  I  have  written  to 
appoint  him  an  interview,  and  in  the  meanwhile  I  write 
to  make  a  communication  to  you  with  regard  to  the  two 
parishes  of  N.  and  M.,  which  I  wished  to  have  made  earlier, 
but  have  refrained  from  doing  so,  in  the  hope  that  I  might 


A    NON-RESlbENT  INCUMBENT.  155 

hear  from  you  first  on  the  subject.  You  will,  I  am  sure, 
pardon  me  for  writing  with  great  frankness,  and  attribute 
my  doing  so  to  no  other  motive  but  a  sincere  desire  for 
the  spiritual  welfare  of  the  parishes  with  which  you  are 
ministerially  connected.  First,  I  must  express  my  regret 
that  these  important  parishes  should  be  held  by  you  in 
connection  with  your  very  important  and  responsible  duties 

at .  My  own  experience,  both  of  cathedral  duties  and 

of  parochial  ministration,  enables  me  to  say  that  the  duties 

which  devolve  on  you  in  virtue  of  your  office  in ,  are 

amply  sufficient  to  engage  the  sole  energies  of  a  clergyman, 
even  had  he  no  other  duties  to  attend  to.  But  this  is  a 
matter  of  long  standing,  and  however  much  I  may  regret 
for  the  sake  of  the  Church  that  it  should  be  so,  any  change 
in  that  respect  must,  of  course,  emanate  from  yourself;  nor 
should  I  allude  to  it,  but  for  the  sake  of  writing  with  per- 
fect frankness. 

Assuming,  however,  that  there  can  be  no  change  in  this 
respect,  I  have  felt  for  some  time  past  the  necessity  for  a 
change  with  regard  to  the  provision  for  the  two  chapelries 
of  N.  and  M.  I  do  not  think  it  possible  for  one  curate  to 
perform  the  duties  of  those  two  parishes. 

N.  and  M.  are  five  miles  distant  from  one  another.  N. 
has  a  resident  population  of  700  people,  and,  if  I  am  credibly 
informed,  an  increasing  population.  L.  (another  hamlet)  is 
more  than  a  mile  from  the  church,  and  a  mile  from  the 
school.  The  population  at  L.  is,  I  am  informed,  in  a  most 
deplorable  state.  Immorality  prevails,  and  there  is  great 
alienation  from  the  Church.  Then,  in  addition  to  this,  you 
are  aware  there  is  a  Roman  Catholic  chapel,  school,  and 
priest's  house  in  M.  The  Dissenters  are  active  ;  they  have 
a  chapel  and  school  there.  All  these  circumstances  point 
to  the  absolute  necessity  of  a  resident  clergyman,  who 
can  give  his  whole  energies  to  the  work  of  the  ministry  in 
M.,  unless  the  Church  of  England  is  wholly  to  yield  up  her 
proper  standing. 

At  present  M.  has  only  alternate  services  on  each  Lord's 
Day.  There  ought  decidedly  to  be  two  full  services,  and  a 


156      LIFE    OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

sermon  at  each  on  every  Sabbath.  It  will  require  years  of 
patient  and  laborious  effort  to  recover  the  ground  which 
the  Church  ought  now  to  be  occupying  in  M.  I  have  formed 
this  opinion  partly  upon  my  own  knowledge  of  the  facts 
of  the  case,  partly  from  representations  which  have  been 
made  to  me  by  persons  in  the  neighbourhood,  who  take 
an  interest  in  N.,  and  partly  as  the  result  of  conversation 

which  I  had  some  time  since  with  Mr. ;  and  the  result 

is,  that  I  do  not  feel  that  it  would  be  my  duty  to  sanction 
a  similar  arrangement  in  future  to  that  which  has  been 
hitherto  the  case  ;  i.e.,  I  consider  N.  needs  an  active  and 
efficient  curate,  on  whom  no  other  duty  is  to  devolve  but 
the  care  of  N.  and  L.  ;  and  this  will,  of  course,  involve  a 
separate  arrangement  for  M.  I  feel  a  confident  persuasion 
of  your  desire  to  do  what  is  best  for  the  interests  of  the 
Church,  and  I  hope,  upon  consideration,  you  will  agree 
with  me  that  the  present  circumstances  of  N.  are  such  as 
to  make  it  essential  to  have  a  separate  curate  for  M.,  so 
long  as  N.  has  a  non-resident  incumbent. 

I  am,  reverend  and  dear  Sir, 

Very  faithfully  yours, 

R.  RIPON. 

This  letter  not  only  shows  the  tact  with  which 
the  Bishop  pressed  upon  his  clergy  a  higher  sense 
of  ministerial  responsibility,  but  it  shows  how  ac- 
curately he  considered  the  needs  of  what  might  be 
thought  an  insignificant  country  parish. 

Though  the  Bishop  never  sought  to  enforce 
obedience  by  an  appeal  to  the  law,  yet  there  were 
instances  in  the  course  of  his  long  episcopate,  in 
which  clergy  who  had  been  guilty  of  moral  lapse, 
and  obliged  to  leave  their  parishes,  submitted  to 
his  judgment.  In  such  cases  he  knew  how  to  com- 
bine a  jealous  regard  for  the  interests  of  the  Church 
with  the  tenderest  sympathy  for  the  accused,  if 


A    GRATEFUL   LETTER.  157 

he  was  really  penitent.  I  have  before  me  a  long 
correspondence  relating  to  a  clergyman  of  great 
excellence  in  many  ways,  who  had  been  overtaken 
in  a  grievous  fault.  I  choose  two  letters  out  of 
many,  in  which  his  family  and  himself  expressed 
their  gratitude  for  the  Bishop's  fatherly  attitude 
towards  him  : — 

My  Lord, — The  account  I  have  received  of  your  kind 
and  affectionate  visit  to  my  beloved  brother  has  filled  me 
with  gratitude.  It  is  about  the  only  thing  which  could  give 
us  all  comfort  For,  first,  it  shows  your  forgiveness  of  the 
past,  and  that  my  brother  retains  an  affection  which  he 
so  dearly  prized.  Secondly,  and  more  especially,  because 
it  opens  a  ministry  to  him  which,  above  all  others,  is  what 
I  should  have  wished.  You  know,  perhaps,  his  early  and 
long  love  of  God,  and  devotion  to  His  service.  You  know 
how  many  souls  he  has  helped  to  bring  into  the  fold.  You 
can  hardly  know  the  deep  tenderness  of  his  affections,  and 
in  some  sense  the  simplicity  of  his  nature.  But  your  Lord- 
ship also  knows  that  he  has  fallen  in  various  ways.  I  will 
only  add  that,  should  you  be  able  to  repeat  your  visit, 
and  to  give  us  any  assurance  of  your  sense  of  his  penitence 
and  grounds  for  acceptance  with  God  through  Christ,  it 
will  be  a  great  and  unspeakable  comfort. 

I  am,  my  Lord, 
Yours  with  deep  respect, 


The  clergyman  himself  wrote  as  follows  : — 

My  dear  Lord, — I  left  the  Palace  yesterday,  thinking  I 
should  meet  you  on  the  way  towards  Ripon.  I  longed  much 
to  have  one  more  word  with  you  ;  but  simply  to  tell  you 
how  deeply  grateful  I  felt  for  all  your  conduct  to  me  yester- 
day, and  for  your  truly  fatherly  love  shown  towards  me. 
I  thank  you  for  every  word  you  said,  and  I  only  entreat 
that,  whenever  you  wish  it  or  think  it  right,  you  will  always 


158      LIFE    OF  BISHOP   ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

speak  openly  to  me ;  and  I  believe,  under  God,  it  will  be 
received  with  a  most  grateful  and  attentive  ear  and  mind. 
It  was  a  great  pleasure  to  me  to  be  back  again  in  a  place 
which  I  have  ever  associated  with  some  of  my  happiest 
thoughts  of  —  -  and  its  work ;  and  I  left  the  Palace  full 
of  comfort  and  gratitude. 

I  remain  with  the  deepest  respect, 

Yours  ever  affectionately  grateful, 


It  would  be  easy  to  illustrate  far  more  fully 
my  father's  relations  with  the  clergy,  but  I  will 
only  add  a  letter  addressed  to  the  writer  by  one 
to  whom  he  is  bound  by  ties  of  the  closest  grati- 
tude and  affection  : — 

Bishop's  Court,  Adelaide,  South  Australia. 

My  dear  Cyril, — You  have  asked  me  to  place  on  paper 
some  recollections  of  your  dear  father.  His  kindness  to 
me  when  I  was  a  boy  I  can  never  forget.  This  he  showed, 
not  only  in  thoughtfulness  for  my  amusement  when  I  went 
to  stay  with  him — riding  with  me  to  places  of  interest,  and 
talking  cheerily  and  brightly  about  great  duties  and  great 
work — but  doing  these  things  in  a  manner  most  attractive 
to  a  boy.  He  was  a  capital  rider,  and  mounted  me  well ; 
and  he  always  looked  so  bright,  and  had  so  many  jokes 
and  stories,  that  it  was  no  wonder  that,  as  a  boy,  I  learnt 
thoroughly  to  admire  him.  And  there  were  closer  ties  that 
bound  me  to  him.  When  I  was  at  Eton — I  suppose  it 
would  be  in  1860  or  1861 — my  sister  was  to  be  confirmed 
at  Harrogate.  We  naturally  had  a  wish  to  be  confirmed 
together.  I  had  not  been  prepared  for  Confirmation  at 
Eton,  and  when  I  came  home  for  the  holidays  there  was 
little  or  no  time  in  which  I  could  be  prepared.  Your  dear 
father  heard  of  this,  and  sent  for  me  to  come  and  stay  at 
the  Palace,  and  there  most  gently  and  affectionately  talked 
of  deep  spiritual  truths  to  me,  and  so  won  me  that  I  can- 
not say  how  much  I  owe  to  him.  When  my  dear  father 


LETTER   FROM  BISHOP  KENNION,  159 

died  he  drove  over  from  Ripon  to  see  my  mother,  and 
nothing  could  exceed  the  tenderness  with  which  he  spoke 
to  her  and  prayed  with  us.  After  this  I  did  not  see  much 
of  him  until,  in  1876,  I  was  appointed  to  a  benefice  in  his 
diocese  ;  and  when  he  instituted  me,  gave  me  his  blessing, 
and  prayed  with  me,  he  seemed  to  be  a  real  Father  in  God 
to  his  newly-instituted  priest  Whenever  he  afterwards 
came  to  confirm  at  All  Saints,  he  always  inquired  most 
earnestly  into  the  state  of  the  parish  and  the  kind  of 
work  that  was  being  done,  and  made  a  point  of  asking 
me,  before  he  gave  his  Charge  to  the  candidates,  whether 
there  was  anything  particular  that  I  desired  to  have  said 
to  them. 

Our  people  there  had  a  great  admiration  for  him  : 
business  men,  in  particular,  listened  with  the  greatest 
interest  to  all  his  utterances,  because,  as  they  said,  "  every- 
thing he  said  was  so  clearly  put  that  they  could  carry  it 
away  with  them."  The  high  estimation  in  which  they 
held  him  was,  no  doubt,  partly  due  to  the  fact  that  he  was 
an  excellent  man  of  business,  so  clear-headed  a  chairman, 
and  so  punctual  in  keeping  all  his  engagements. 

Perhaps  even  you,  my  dear  Cyril,  hardly  know  how 
deeply  your  father  was  overcome  by  joy  when  it  was 
decided  that  you  were  to  be  ordained.  When  it  was 
arranged  for  your  coming  as  my  curate  to  Bradford,  he  in- 
vited me  to  visit  him  at  Ripon,  that  he  might  talk  over  the 
matter  with  me.  I  remember  well  with  what  thankfulness 
he  was  speaking  of  Dr.  Gott's  work  in  Leeds,  and  especially 
of  the*  Clergy  School,  where  you  were  at  that  time.  He 
paced  up  and  down  the  garden  with  tears  filling  his  eyes 
as  he  spoke,  with  deep  reverence  and  thankfulness,  about 
his  youngest  son  becoming  a  clergyman  of  the  Church. 

It  was  natural  when  I  was  offered  the  bishopric  of 
Adelaide  that  I  should  go  at  once  to  my  Diocesan.  Few 
men  could  have  had  a  kinder  friend  to  whom  to  go.  He 
entered  warmly  into  all  my  anxieties  about  leaving  my 
parish,  and  gave  me  most  cheering  and  useful  advice  about 
my  future  work. 


160      LIFE   OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

Although,  generally  speaking,  he  was  impressively  grave 
and  serious  in  his  manner,  the  Bishop  was  sometimes  full  of 
humour.  One  of  the  last  stories  he  told  me,  he  told  with 
infinite  amusement.  One  of  his  ordination  candidates  had 
shown  a  lamentable  ignorance  of  Holy  Scripture  in  his 
papers.  In  his  interview  with  the  Bishop  he  was  asked 
whether  he  read  his  Bible  every  day.  "  Certainly,  my  Lord, 
every  day."  "  Have  you  any  plan  upon  which  you  read 

your  Bible,  Mr. ? "     "  Certainly,  my  Lord."     "  Do  you 

follow  the  Church's  Calendar,  and  the  lessons  provided  for 
every  day  ?  "  "  Oh  no,  my  Lord."  "  Have  you  a  plan  of 
your  own,  then  ?  "  "  Certainly,  my  Lord."  "  What  is  your 
plan  ?  "  "  Oh,  it's  just  a  plan  of  my  own.  I  always  read 
what  I  think  is  likely  to  bear  on  the  events  of  the  day." 
"  Well,  to-day,  for  instance  ;  what  did  you  read  ?  "  "  Oh, 
my  Lord,  knowing  I  was  going  to  see  your  Lordship  to-day, 
I  just  read  all  the  comforting  passages  I  could." 

I  leave  it  to  others  to  describe  the  admirable  way  in 
which  he  conducted,  as  chairman,  the  business  of  the 
Diocesan  Conference,  or  of  any  public  meetings  in  which 
he  was  concerned.  Notably  this  was  the  case  at  the  Leeds 
Church  Congress  in  1872,  and  it  ought  never  to  be  for- 
gotten that  it  was  to  him  we  owe  the  introduction  of  the 
recitation  of  the  Creed  at  the  commencement  of  each 
annual  meeting  of  the  Congress.  Two  further  points  are 
worth  noting.  First,  the  promptitude  with  which  he  in- 
variably replied  to  any  letter  addressed  to  him  by  any  of 
his  clergy  ;  and,  secondly,  the  fact  that  in  spite  of  the 
widely  divergent  opinions  of  some  of  the  clergy  of  his  very 
large  diocese,  no  single  prosecution  on  account  of  ritual 
ever  took  place  during  his  episcopate. 

Speaking  for  myself — and  I  think  that  I  should  represent 
the  feelings  of  many  others — we  realised  that  we  had  in  our 
bishop  one  whose  quiet,  steady  judgment  seemed  a  strength 
on  which  we  could  always  fall  back,  and  who,  while  he  was 
ready  to  support  us  in  any  work  which  we  attempted, 
always  left  us  plenty  of  room  in  which  to  do  it  without 
interference. 


TRUE  PROGRESS.  l6l 


I  have  not  alluded  to  the  extraordinary  growth  of  the 
Church  in  his  diocese  during  his  episcopate,  simply  because 
I  expect  that  others  better  qualified  will  give  full  informa- 
tion upon  this  point. 

Yours  affectionately, 

G.  W.  ADELAIDE. 

Testimony  like  this  shows  that  the  material  and 
spiritual  progress  of  the  diocese  went  side  by  side ; 
or,  in  other  words,  that  the  Bishop,  whose  skilful 
organisation  led  to  so  large  an  increase  in  church 
building  and  restoration,  sought  to  be  to  his  clergy 
a  true  Father  in  God,  winning  their  love  and  ad-* 
miration  no  less  than  their  deference  to  his  authority. 


M 


CHAPTER  X. 

DIOCESAN    WORK:    ORDINATIONS. 

Ordinations  at  Ripon — Searching  inquiry  into  motives  of  candidates — 
Efforts  to  raise  the  standard— Theological  colleges — Letter  to  the 
Dean  of  Lichfield— The  Leeds  Clergy  School— Letter  of  Rev.  C. 
Cobb — Reminiscences  of  a  clergyman  ordained  at  Ripon. 

THERE  was  no  part  of  his  work  in  which  my  father 
took  a  deeper  interest  than  that  of  selecting  candi- 
dates for  Holy  Orders.  As  compared  with  the  efforts 
made  now  in  many  dioceses  to  conduct  the  ordina- 
tions with  due  solemnity,  the  plans  adopted  at  Ripon 
thirty  years  ago  seem  simple  ;  but  no  bishop  laboured 
more  earnestly  to  impress  upon  his  candidates  a 
devotional  spirit. 

Some  months  before  the  ordination,  my  father 
insisted  upon  a  personal  preliminary  interview  ;  and 
in  this  way  he  was  able  to  prevent  many  candidates 
from  appearing  at  the  examination  who  would  cer- 
tainly have  failed.  He  usually  asked  them  to  con- 
strue a  few  verses  of  the  Greek  Testament,  and 
inquired  into  their  theological  reading  ;  but  in  every 
case  he  asked  candidates  to  define  their  views  on 
certain  fundamental  doctrines. 

He  had  especially  prepared  a  volume,  in  which 


CANDIDATES  FOR  HOLY  ORDERS.  163 

candidates'  names  were  entered  ;  and,  as  an  illustra- 
tion of  his  careful  accuracy,  it  may  be  interesting  to 
see  the  form. 

Each  page  contains  the  following  :— 

I.  Candidate's  name.  2.  Address.  3.  Age.  4.  College. 
5.  Parentage.  6.  Preliminary  education.  7.  References. 
8.  Title.  9.  Application  (whether  one  had  previously  been 
made  to  another  bishop).  10.  Motive,  n.  Sunday  school  ? 
12.  Parish  work. 

13.  Reading. — Bible,  Greek  Testament,  Church  History, 
Articles,  Prayer-book,  Pastoral  Theology. 

14.  Fundamental  Doctrines. — Human  Depravity,  Atone- 
ment, Justification,  Sanctification. 

15.  Remarks. 

As,  in  every  case,  an  answer  was  required  to 
each  of  these  queries,  it  is  evident  that  the  Bishop 
could  easily  form  an  impression  of  the  capacity  of 
the  candidate,  as  well  as  of  his  motives  and  character. 
The  terms  in  which  a  man  would  answer  my  father's 
question  as  to  his  motive  in  seeking  Holy  Orders, 
were  sufficient  to  give  a  good  idea  of  his  character ; 
and  in  not  a  few  cases  the  Bishop  was  able  to 
suggest  the  higher  and  deeper  motive,  when  a  young 
man  had  been  first  led  to  devote  himself  to  the 
ministry  in  deference  to  a  parent's  wish,  or  some 
other  reason  far  short  of  the  highest. 

It  was  sometimes  supposed  that  the  examination 
at  Ripon  was  less  searching  than  that  in  other 
dioceses ;  and  certainly  it  was  not  possible  to 
maintain  so  high  a  standard  as  in  those  nearer  the 
Metropolis,  which  naturally  attract  the  abler  Uni- 
versity men.  And  yet  the  examination  conducted 
by  Mr.  Clayton  and  his  brother  chaplains  generally 


164      LIFE    OF  BISHOP   ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

proved  disastrous  to  some  of  those  who  presented 
themselves,  while  many  more  were  rejected  by  the 
Bishop  himself  at  his  preliminary  interviews. 

The  writer  remembers  that  the  Bishop  once  told 
him  that  he  believed  that  he  had  applications  from 
Dissenting  ministers  seeking  Orders  in  the  Church, 
on  an  average  once  a  fortnight.  This  is  a  startling 
fact,  as  showing  how  gladly  many  Nonconformists 
would  enter  the  ministry  of  the  Church.  Of  these 
candidates  many  were  disqualified  by  age,  many 
by  deficiency  of  education,  and  others  were  ap- 
parently only  anxious  to  share  the  social  position 
of  the  Established  clergy,  and  had  no  sense  of  the 
spiritual  superiority  of  the  Church. 

There  were,  however,  many  Nonconformists 
ordained  by  my  father,  who  brought  into  the  Church 
intellectual  and  spiritual  qualifications  of  the  highest 
order. 

My  father  had  a  great  desire  to  raise  the 
standard  of  intellectual  attainments  in  his  candidates 
for  Holy  Orders  ;  and  it  was  to  him  a  matter  of 
great  regret  that  so  many  University  men  choose 
the  Southern  Dioceses  rather  than  the  hard  work  of 
our  Northern  manufacturing  towns.  The  following 
letter  was  addressed  to  his  brother,  the  Dean  of 
Lichfield,  and  contains  a  fuller  statement  of  his 
views  than  is  usually  found  in  his  hurried  and  con- 
cise correspondence  : — 

The  Palace,  Ripon,  November  21,  1878. 

My  dearest  Edward, — I  only  returned  home  this  morn- 
ing, otherwise  I  would  have  answered  your  letter  by  return 
of  post  I  have  not  any  hard  and  fast  rule  respecting  can- 
didates from  Lichfield,  or  any  other  Theological  College,  but 


GRADUATES  PREFERRED.  165 

my  aim  is,  as  far  as  possible,  to  secure  University  men  for 
ordination,  in  preference  to  those  who  have  only  been  trained 
at  a  Theological  College.  The  proportion  of  candidates  for 
ordination  who  have  graduated  has  considerably  increased 
in  this  diocese  of  late,  and  I  wish  to  encourage  University 
men  to  come  forward.  This  has  made  me  decline  some 
who  have  applied  from  Theological  Colleges,  whom  otherwise 
I  might  have  accepted.  Again,  the  standard  of  attainment 
which  secures  the  usual  certificate  of  Lichfield  is,  so  far  as 
I  can  judge,  not  high.  The  Mr.  A.,  whom  I  ordained  last 
September,  did  most  feebly  in  the  Examination.  He 
knows  nothing  of  Greek,  and  it  was  mainly  due  to  your 
recommendation  of  him  that  the  examiners  agreed  to  treat 
his  case  as  exceptional.  But  if  this  were  to  occur  frequently, 
it  would  involve  considerable  inconvenience  to  the  ex- 
aminers, and  an  appearance  of  injustice  to  other  candidates. 
Besides,  I  was  recently  informed,  upon  what  seemed  good 
authority,  that  Bishop  Maclagan  now  requires  a  higher 
standard  than  has  been  usual  hitherto  in  candidates  for 
ordination  from  the  Lichfield  Theological  College.  One 
result  of  this  is  that  for  a  time,  till  a  new  class  of  students 
has  been  admitted,  there  will  be  a  flight  of  Lichfield 
students  to  other  dioceses  for  ordination,  because  of  their 
inability  to  meet  the  requirements  of  the  Bishop  of  Lich- 
field. This  has  suggested  a  little  extra  caution  in  accepting 
Lichfield  students  just  at  present. 

I  am  afraid  you  may  think  this  reply  vague  and  unsatis- 
factory, but  I  think  you  will  sympathise  in  my  desire  to 
obtain  candidates  who  have  a  degree,  and  to  make  the 
admission  of  candidates  from  Theological  Colleges  who  are 
non-graduates,  the  exception.  Of  course  all  this  relates  to 
intellectual  training ;  but  I  would  infinitely  prefer  a  man 
from  a  Theological  College  of  high  spiritual  qualifications, 
though  of  inferior  mental  culture,  to  a  man  of  the  highest 
intellectual  attainment,  with  a  low  standard  of  piety,  what- 
ever his  academic  distinction. 

I  need  hardly  add  that  I  shall  always  be  most  grateful 
for  any  private  and  confidential  communication  from  you 


1 66      LIFE    OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

in   respect   of  any   candidates   for   whom    you   think    an 
exception  ought  to  be  made. 

Ever  your  affectionate  brother, 

R.  RlPON. 

This  letter  refers,  of  course,  only  to  those  Theo- 
logical Colleges  which  attempt  to  supply  the  sole 
intellectual,  as  well  as  theological,  training  for  the 
ministry. 

My  father  felt  the  great  value  of  institutions 
which  were  intended  to  supplement,  by  a  special 
theological  and  devotional  training,  the  advantages 
of  an  University  education. 

He  watched  with  the  keenest  interest  and  the 
heartiest  approbation  the  Clergy  School  at  Leeds, 
which,  founded  by  Dr.  Gott,  the  Dean  of  Worcester, 
is  justly  regarded  as  the  model  of  a  clerical  seminary, 
which  combines  theological  reading  and  spiritual 
training  with  opportunities  for  gaining  insight  into 
the  varied  machinery  of  a  large  and  well-worked 
parish. 

The  Leeds  Clergy  School  is  only  for  graduates 
of  Oxford  and  Cambridge,  and  the  credit  of  its 
foundation  belongs  exclusively  to  the  Dean  of 
Worcester.  It  was  solely  owing  to  his  munificence 
and  his  fatherly  oversight  that  it  attained  an  unique 
position,  cordially  recognised  by  the  whole  English 
Church.  It  has  not  yet  become  strictly  a  diocesan 
institution ;  but  my  father  from  the  first  watched 
its  progress  with  the  deepest  interest.  He  was 
frequently  a  lecturer  within  its  walls  ;  he  was  glad 
to  offer  his  counsel  whenever  it  was  sought,  and 
used  his  office  as  Visitor,  not  to  direct  or  control, 
but  to  stamp  with  his  approval  an  Institution  of 


THE  LEEDS   CLERGY  SCHOOL.  1 67 

whose  value  he  was  deeply  sensible.  He  frankly 
recognised  that  it  helped  to  raise  the  standard  of 
clerical  efficiency  in  the  diocese,  and  expressed  to 
its  founder  and  the  lecturers  his  heartfelt  thanks  for 
the  training  which  they  supplied. 

Since  the  above  was  written,  the  writer  has  seen 
the  eloquent  sermon  preached  by  Canon  Temple,  on 
the  occasion  of  the  Clergy  School  Commemoration 
Festival,  on  June  8,  1886;  and  he  is  glad  to  have 
his  account  confirmed  by  the  high  authority  of  one 
who  knew  its  history  from  the  first : — 

Exactly  ten  years  have  elapsed,  or  will  have  done  so 
when  St.  James's  Day  comes  round,  since  I  had  the  privi- 
lege of  standing  in  the  parish  church  pulpit  and  preaching, 
not  the  anniversary  sermon  (for  anniversaries  had  not  then 
begun  to  arrive),  but  the  first  festival  sermon  in  connection 
with  the  Leeds  Clergy  School.  That  duty  I  had  been 
asked,  on  short  notice,  to  discharge.  It  had  been  under- 
taken in  the  first  instance  by  one  who  very  highly 
honoured  this  then  infant  Institution,  who  laboured  per- 
sonally to  serve  it,  who  showed  the  value  he  set  on  its 
work  by  sending  his  own  son  to  reap  benefit  therefrom — 
the  late  Lord  Bishop  of  Ripon.  He  had  been  taken  ill, 
and  was  unable  to  do  what  he  had  promised  ;  and  I  well 
remember  the  letter  of  fatherly,  kindly  appreciation,  in 
which  he  afterwards  expressed  thanks  for,  and  approval  of 
the  effort  unworthily  made  by  another  to  supply  his  place. 
Pardon  this  personal  reminiscence.  It  is  made  solely  on 
account  of  its  reference  to  the  departed.  For,  indeed,  it 
was  a  point  of  first  consequence  in  the  struggling  baby- 
hood of  the  Clergy  School,  that  it  threw  itself  boldly  on 
the  sympathies  of  its  Bishop,  that  he  responded  frankly 
and  warmly  to  its  action  in  so  doing ;  and  while  refusing 
pointedly,  as  I  believe  he  did  refuse,  all  responsibility  for, 
or  interference  with  its  independent  management,  he  yet 


1 68      LIFE   OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

gave  it  that  warm-hearted  countenance  and  support,  without 
which  it  could  never  have  become  what,  in  fact,  it  has 
become,  or  have  enjoyed  the  success  which  has,  in  fact,  by 
God's  gracious  blessing,  crowned  the  earnest  and  watchful 
efforts  of  its  founder. 

My  father  felt  very  strongly  that  no  young  man 
should  undertake  the  awful  responsibilities  of  the 
ministry  without  a  thorough  previous  training ;  and 
he  constantly  urged  candidates  not  to  present  them- 
selves for  Holy  Orders  until  they  had  gained  some 
practical  experience  by  taking  cottage  lectures,  or  at 
least  by  teaching  in  Sunday  schools. 

And  he  used  to  enforce  the  same  views  on 
clerical  education  in  his  Charges.  Thus,  in  1876,  he 
writes — 

I  am  aware  of  the  great  difficulty  which  is  experienced 
in  finding,  in  sufficient  number,  really  efficient  curates, 
especially  if  the  range  of  choice  is  limited  to  University 
men.  The  difficulty  may  fully  be  accounted  for  without 
supposing  that  there  is  any  falling  off  in  the  number  of 
young  men  who  wish  to  enter  the  ministry  of  our  Church. 
The  explanation  is  found  in  the  constantly  increasing 
number  of  new  churches  ;  the  far  more  general  employ- 
ment of  curates  by  incumbents ;  the  higher  standard  of 
piety  and  efficiency  which  incumbents  seek  for  in  those 
whom  they  select ;  and  the  large  demands  of  the  Colonial 
Church  for  English  clergymen.  At  the  same  time  I  would 
urge  the  importance  of  selecting  candidates  for  ordination 
as  far  as  possible  from  amongst  those  who  have  graduated 
at  one  of  the  Universities. 

I  am  far  from  wishing  to  speak  in  any  tone  of  dis- 
paragement of  Theological  Colleges.  In  the  existing  state 
of  the  Church  they  are  simply  a  necessity ;  a  sufficient 
number  of  candidates  to  meet  the  demand  for  curates 
cannot  be  obtained  from  the  Universities.  Many  of  these 


IMPORTANCE   OF  GENERAL   CULTURE.        169 

Theological  Colleges  are  doing  their  work  most  efficiently. 
In  some  instances  I  have  found  candidates  from  these 
institutions  excel  even  University  men  in  the  examination 
previous  to  ordination.  If  considered  merely  as  supple- 
mentary to  the  University,  affording  a  more  specific  training 
in  theology  than  could  be  obtained  at  the  University,  their 
value  can  hardly  be  overstated  ;  and  yet  I  think  it  would 
be  a  serious  evil  should  it  ever  come  to  pass  that  a  majority 
of  candidates  for  Holy  Orders  should  be  drafted  from  Theo- 
logical Colleges,  without  having  received  any  University 
training.  There  are  advantages  combined  with  education 
at  the  University  which  cannot  be  secured  at  any  Theological 
College.  The  teaching  in  the  latter  is  directed  to  a  special 
end.  A  large  proportion  of  the  students  have  been  imper- 
fectly educated,  to  begin  with,  and  they  resort  to  the 
Theological  College  with  the  view  of  qualifying  themselves 
in  the  cheapest  and  most  expeditious  manner  to  pass  the 
ordination  examination.  The  students  are  all  destined 
for  the  ministry.  This,  which  might  be  deemed  in  some 
respects  an  advantage,  is  not  without  a  serious  drawback. 
No  man,  it  has  been  said,  is  a  good  theologian  who  is 
nothing  but  a  theologian.  The  education  of  a  Theological 
College  is  necessarily  a  class  education.  This  is  the  last 
thing  to  be  desired  for  the  clergy  of  our  Church.  If  they 
are  really  to  influence  society,  if  they  are  to  mould  or 
direct  the  current  of  thought  on  questions  of  vital  im- 
portance in  the  affairs  of  ordinary  life,  not  less  than  in 
matters  of  religion,  there  should  be  a  breadth  and  depth 
in  their  education  which  the  contracted  sphere  of  a  Theo- 
logical College  does  not  permit.  They  should  mingle  freely, 
during  the  period  of  their  intellectual  training,  with  students 
for  other  callings  in  life,  if  they  are  to  escape  the  narrowness 
of  view  which  generally  characterises  persons  who  associate 
exclusively  with  one  class.  It  is  surely  a  part  of  our  high 
vocation,  as  ministers  of  Christ's  Church,  to  exercise  a 
wholesome  influence  on  all  orders  of  men  and  all  classes 
of  mind.  Now,  the  system  of  a  Theological  College,  if  relied 


1 70      LIFE    OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

upon  as  the  only  preparation  for  the  ministry,  is,  to  say  the 
least,  not  favourable  to  this. 

Upon  the  whole,  then,  assuming  the  existence  of 
personal  piety,  which  is  the  first  and  highest  qualification, 
for  the  want  of  which  no  degree  of  intellectual  ability  or 
attainment  is  any  counterpoise,  you  are  more  likely  to  find 
the  elements  which  combine  to  make  an  efficient  clergyman 
in  one  who  has  received  an  University  education  than  in 
one  who  has  merely  passed  the  prescribed  course  in  a  theo- 
logical college.  Having  this  conviction,  I  strongly  recom- 
mend that  in  the  selection  of  candidates  for  ordination, 
every  effort  should  be  used  to  procure  them  from  graduates 
of  one  of  our  Universities." 

The  Rev.  Clement  Cobb,  from  whose  recollec- 
tions more  than  one  quotation  has  been  already 
made,  writes  of  the  ordinations  at  Ripon  : — 

Most  solemn  and  heart-stirring  were  the  ordination 
seasons.  Before  he  began  work  the  Bishop  called  his 
chaplains  to  earnest  prayer  for  the  presence  and  help  of 
the  great  Head  of  the  Church.  While  we  set  the  papers, 
and  conducted  the  written  examination,  he  was  in  a 
separate  room,  and  had  each  candidate  for  a  private  inter- 
view. This  was  in  addition  to  a  preliminary  interview,  on 
which  he  always  insisted  before  accepting  any  man  as  a 
candidate.  I  was  never  present  at  any  of  these  interviews, 
but  I  believe  there  was  always  viva  voce  examination  in 
the  Greek  Testament,  a  careful  and  suggestive  sifting  of  the 
motives  which  were  leading  a  man  to  seek  the  ministry,  and 
in  the  case  of  deacons,  an  examination  into  their  work  and 
self-culture  during  the  diaconate.  The  examination  at 
Ripon  had  the  character  of  not  being  severe ;  but  while  the 
experience  of  rejecting  men  was  the  most  painful,  it  was 
a  satisfaction  to  my  mind,  as  proving  the  reality  of  the  test, 
at  least  to  some  measure,  that  I  hardly  ever  assisted  at  an 
examination  that  one  or  more  men  were  not  rejected. 

Our  examinations  were  usually  spread  over  four  days 


THE  EMBER    WEEK.  1 71 

and  on  three  of  these,  after  the  work  was  over,  all  were 
gathered  together  to  hear  an  address  from  one  who  truly 
stood  before  them  as  a  Father  in  Christ.  The  addresses 
were  most  solemn,  most  heart-searching,  most  moving. 
The  Bishop  would  clearly  set  forth  the  qualifications  and 
credentials  which  were  necessary  and  desirable  to  constitute 
the  outward  call  to  the  ministry.  Then  he  would  pass,  in 
clear  and  careful  discrimination,  to  the  indispensable  inward 
call — the  "  moving  by  the  Holy  Ghost "  about  to  be  publicly 
professed,  the  personal  reception  of  those  truths  which  they 
were  about  to  teach,  so  that  they  became  a  very  constituent 
part  of  our  moral  and  spiritual  nature. 

Nor  were  the  men  thus  with  prayer  and  pains,  careful- 
ness and  earnestness,  examination  and  exhortation,  admitted 
to  Holy  Orders  afterwards  forgotten.  The  Bishop  always 
had  his  eye  on  good  men  to  be  placed  in  charge  of  parishes 
in  his  diocese  as  they  fell  vacant.  It  is  not  too  much  to 
affirm,  that  not  only  parishes  were  blessed  with  a  happy 
revolution  by  many  of  these  appointments,  but  that  the 
whole  tone  and  character  of  Church  life  in  some  of  the 
great  towns  of  the  West  Riding  was  rectified  and  revived. 
To  be  sure,  there  was  one  great  difficulty,  which  the 
Bishop's  desires  and  cares  could  not  overcome  ;  and  that 
was,  that  many  of  the  so-called  livings  to  which  he  had  to 
present  were  starvings,  and  he  could  not  get  good  men 
to  take  them.  Hence  he  thought  that  an  arrangement  for 
the  augmentation  of  poor  livings  should  be  prior  in  its 
claims  even  to  one  for  the  augmentation  of  curates'  stipends. 

In  my  last  interview  with  him,  when  by  the  sea,  in 
health  broken  down  prematurely  by  his  over-abounding 
labours,  he  referred  to  the  early  days  of  his  episcopate,  and 
went  over  with  pleasure  the  names  and  locations  of  those 
whom  he  had  ordained.  "  Ah !  I  have  always  felt  the 
greatest  interest  in  So-and-so ;  he  was  one  of  the  very  first 
whom  I  ordained." 

One  plan  he  adopted  with  excellent  results,  viz.  to 
hold  his  ordinations  not  always  at  Ripon,  where  people 
were  accustomed  to  them,  but  in  various  populous  centres 


172      LIFE   OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

in  his  diocese,  e.g.  Leeds,  Huddersfield,  Bradford,  Richmond, 
etc.  The  large  old  parish  churches  were  crowded  with 
interested  worshippers,  who  thus,  generally  for  the  first 
time,  learned  the  solemn  responsibilities  to  which  ministers 
of  the  Church  pledge  themselves.  The  laity  of  the  place 
chosen  had  the  option  put  before  them  of  receiving  the 
candidates  for  ordination  as  their  guests  during  the  exami- 
nation. This  was  done  with  more  than  readiness,  and  the 
Bishop  courteously  went  round  to  call  on  the  hosts  and 
offer  his  thanks  in  person.  Thus  he  wove  bonds  of  union 
in  the  Church,  and  he  told  me  with  amusement  that  he 
found  one  great  advantage  resulting  from  this  kindly 
hospitality  was  the  profound  impression  established  of  the 
searching  character  of  the  ordination  examination.  The 
hosts  with  one  consent  had  been  moved  to  sympathy  by 
the  keen  anxieties  of  "  their  gentlemen." 

In  later  years,  when  health  and  strength  were 
failing,  my  father  sought  the  aid  of  others  to  give 
devotional  addresses  during  the  week  of  exami- 
nation, but  in  earlier  days  he  used  to  give  all  the 
addresses  himself,  and  frequently  preached  in  person 
on  the  ordination  day. 

It  is  difficult  to  convey  to  those  who  never  heard 
them  the  subtle  charm  and  the  intense  force  of 
words  which  came  from  his  very  heart  ;  but  not  a 
few  of  his  clergy  will  never  forget  the  impression 
of  their  Bishop's  character  which  they  gained  on 
the  eve  of  ordination. 

One  gentleman,  a  stranger  to  the  writer  and  no 
longer  in  the  diocese,  has  kindly  sent  a  little  note 
which  he  terms — 

ORDINATION  REMINISCENCES  :  A  PERSONAL  TESTIMONY. 

I  shall  never  forget  my  ordination  in  1857.  On  many 
accounts  it  was  a  season  to  be  thankfully  remembered. 


ORDINA  TION  MEMORIES.  I  73 

From  my  boyhood  I  had  read  with  much  interest,  and  I 
hope  profit,  the  writings  of  the  revered  Edward  Bicker- 
steth  of  Watton  ;  and  when  I  decided  to  enter  the  ministry, 
I  determined  to  seek  ordination  at  the  hands  of  his  epis- 
copal relative.  After  some  correspondence  I  obtained  an 
interview  with  the  Bishop  in  London,  who  examined  me 
carefully  as  to  my  object  in  seeking  Holy  Orders,  my 
religious  experience,  attainments,  etc.,  and  finally  com- 
mended me  in  prayer  to  God  in  a  way  that  won  my  heart. 
He  was  kind  enough  to  mention  my  name  to  several 
incumbents  in  the  diocese,  so  that  I  soon  received  four 
different  offers  of  a  title  to  a  curacy.  Choosing  one  of 
these,  I  duly  presented  myself  at  Ripon  with  a  number 
of  other  candidates.  During  the  examination  the  Bishop 
addressed  us  every  day  in  the  Palace  Chapel,  and  nothing, 
I  am  persuaded,  could  surpass  the  earnestness  and  pointed 
character  of  his  appeals.  They  were  most  solemn,  eloquent, 
impressive,  and  led,  I  know,  to  great  searchings  of  hearts 
on  the  part  of  his  hearers.  Even  at  this  distant  day  I  seem 
to  see  his  fine  handsome  countenance  glowing  with  emotion, 
and  to  hear  his  voice  pleading  with  intense  fervour  the 
cause  of  our  own  and  of  our  future  congregations'  immortal 
souls.  Alas !  for  the  Church  he  loved  and  served  so  well, 
that  that  voice  of  powerful  entreaty  should  have  been 
put  to  silence  in  the  grave.  On  the  succeeding  Sunday 
morning  it  was  arranged  that  we  should  walk  to  the 
cathedral  in  our  gowns,  two  and  two.  The  gentleman 
appointed  to  accompany  me  was  a  stranger.  I  had  scarcely 
noticed  him  previously.  But  we  soon  got  into  conversa- 
tion, and  I  could  not  help  referring  to  the  Bishop's  ad- 
dresses, and  saying  what  cause  we  had  for  thankfulness 
that  Providence  had  directed  our  steps  to  that  place.  "  I 
especially  have  reason  to  say  so,"  said  my  companion  ;  and 
on  my  looking  for  an  explanation  he  remarked,  "  I  was 

ordained  deacon  some  time  ago  by  the  Bishop  of . 

The  whole  proceeding  was  cold,  formal,  lifeless.  It  made 
no  impression  upon  me  whatever.  But  immediately  on 
my  coming  here  I  was  effectively  aroused.  For  the  first 


I  74      LIFE   OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

time  my  eyes  were  opened  to  see  the  responsibilities  I  had 
incurred.  As  the  examination  went  on  I  became  very 
uneasy,  perceiving  myself  to  be  utterly  unfit  for  the  work 
I  had  undertaken.  I  felt  I  must  speak  to  the  Bishop  and 
lay  my  case  before  him.  Obtaining  the  desired  interview, 
his  lordship,"  continued  my  informant,  with  faltering  ac* 
cents,  "  received  me  most  kindly,  listened  to  me,  questioned, 
counselled  me,  and  then,  kneeling  down  at  my  side,  prayed 
for  me  in  words  and  with  a  sympathising  fervour  I  can 
never  forget,  that  the  event  might  be  a  turning-point  in  my 
ministerial  life ;  that  I  might  hereafter  be  endued  with 
'power  from  on  high/  and  made  the  means  of  winning 
many  sinners  to  the  Saviour.  And  now,"  added  my  friend, 
"  I  shall,  please  God,  return  to  my  parish  to  work  as  I  have 
never  worked  hitherto,  with  a  new  motive  and  a  higher 
aim,  trusting  my  labours  in  the  future  may  be  owned  and 
blessed."  By  this  time  we  had  reached  the  cathedral  doors, 
and  were  soon  in  our  seats.  The  service  we  all,  I  think, 
felt  to  be  refreshing.  The  Bishop's  sermon  was  from  the 
text,  "  I  will  go  in  the  strength  of  the  Lord  God  :  I  will 
make  mention  of  Thy  righteousness  only."  He  urged  us 
to  take  this  verse  for  our  motto  in  our  ministry,  to  prose- 
cute our  work  in  the  Lord's  strength,  and  to  preach  His 
righteousness  alone  to  our  respective  flocks.  Never,  I  ima- 
gine, will  the  discourse  be  forgotten  by  those  who  heard 
it.  Then  came  to  us,  the  candidates,  the  great  event  of 
the  day.  But  I  shall  not  attempt  to  describe  the  solemn 
and  impressive  manner  of  that  laying  on  of  hands.  It 
need  not  be  told  how  the  remainder  of  the  day  was  spent, 
partly  at  the  Palace,  nor  how  the  Bishop  watched  over  us 
subsequently  with  unabated  interest  and  kindness  ;  but  I 
cannot  close  this  hasty  sketch  without  remarking — Oh  that 
all  ordination  services  were  of  the  same  character  ;  oh  that 
we  had  more  such  prelates  ! 


CHAPTER   XL 

LONDON    WORK. 

London  work — The  House  of  Lords — Letter  from  Archbishop  of  York 
(Musgrave) — Speeches  on  Deceased  Wife's  Sister's  Bill — On 
disestablishment  of  the  Irish  Church — Life  in  London — Wants 
to  preach  every  night  —  Political  opinions  —  Relations  with 
eminent  statesmen — Letter  from  Mr.  Disraeli  on  Church  ques- 
tions— The  Bishop  of  Durham  (Dr.  Baring),  and  the  question  of 
his  successor — Work  on  Ecclesiastical  Commission,  etc. — Tribute 
of  Bishop  Thorold — May  Meetings. 

IN  a  former  chapter  mention  has  been  made  of  the 
great  reluctance  with  which  my  father  was  absent 
from  his  diocese  when  detained  by  duty  in  the 
House  of  Lords,  and  he  never  attempted  to  take 
any  considerable  share  in  the  business  of  that 
assembly.  And  yet  on  the  one  or  two  occasions 
when  he  spoke,  he  showed  that  he  possessed  more 
than  ordinary  power. 

Early  in  the  year  1858  he  was  asked  by  the 
Archbishop  of  York  (Musgrave)  to  speak  in  answer 
to  the  late  Lord  Redesdale,  who  had  entered  into  a 
controversy  on  the  subject  of  the  Northern  Con- 
vocation. On  July  19,  the  Archbishop  wrote  as 

follows : — 

/ 

Bishopthorpe. 

My  dear  Lord, — A  thousand  thanks  for  your  valuable 
and  very  efficient  help  on  Friday  last.  From  a  near  relative, 


I  76      LIFE   OF  BISHOP   ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

who  was  in  the  House  at  my  desire^  I  heard  that  you  were 
well  and  most  attentively  heard  by  those  who  were  present, 
and  Lord  Redesdale  had  clearly  little  to  say  in  answer. 
You  made  all  the  use  that  was  necessary  of  the  papers 
with  which  I  troubled  you.  The  weight  of  your  own 
business  and  correspondence  I  can  well  guess  at,  and  I 
was  quite  sorry  to  have  to  add  to  your  labours. 

*  *  *  ft  * 

From  time  to  time  my  father  spoke  in  the  House 
on  a  subject  with  regard  to  which  he  took  a  line 
quite  distinct  from  most  of  his  Episcopal  brethren  ; 
this  was  the  question  of  marriage  with  a  deceased 
wife's  sister,  upon  which  the  substance  of  his  views 
may  best  be  gathered  from  the  following  resumd  of 
a  speech  which  he  delivered  in  the  House  of  Lords 
in  the  session  of  1870  : — 

He  asked  for  the  indulgence  of  their  Lordships  while  he 
stated  the  grounds  on  which  he  should  support  the  Bill ; 
and  he  asked  for  it  the  more  earnestly,  because  it  was  his 
misfortune  to  differ  from  the  large  majority  of  his  Right  Rev. 
Brethren,  and  also  from  many  others,  whose  opinions  he 
greatly  respected,  and  to  whose  judgment,  if  it  were  possible 
for  him  to  do  so,  he  would  gladly  bow. 

The  first  question  which  presented  itself  to  his  mind  in 
connection  with  the  particular  class  of  marriages  which 
the  Bill  proposed  to  legalise  was,  "  What  is  the  voice  of 
Scripture  with  regard  to  these  marriages  ?  "  If  that  voice 
had  clearly  and  definitely  spoken,  and  if  the  Word  of  God 
had  prohibited  these  marriages,  no  human  enactment  could 
possibly  make  them  lawful.  Indeed,  the  mere  attempt  to 
do  so  would  be  wholly  unjustifiable.  After  a  most  patient 
investigation  of  the  subject,  he  was  entirely  unable  to 
arrive  at  the  conclusion  expressed  by  his  Right  Rev.  Brother 
(Ely)  who  had  just  addressed  the  House,  that  Scripture 
prohibited  these  marriages.  On  the  contrary,  he  believed 


SPEECH  IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  LORDS.    177 

that  tacitly,  and  by  implication,  the  Law  of  God  per- 
mitted them.  He  would  not  attempt  to  follow  his  Right  Rev. 
Brother  into  the  intricacies  of  that  verbal  criticism  which 
he  had  made  of  different  texts  of  Scripture,  but  he  wished 
to  quote  the  testimony  of  some  theologians  who  were 
admitted  to  be  very  able  and  learned,  whose  attention  had 
been  specially  directed  to  this  particular  question,  and 
whose  opinions  entirely  coincided  with  his  own  as  to  the 
lawfulness,  according  to  Scripture,  of  these  marriages. 
He  then  cited  in  turn  the  opinions  of  the  Bishop  of 
St.  David's  (Dr.  Thirlwall),  the  Rev.  Dr.  McCaul,  and 
Dr.  Tregelles. 

If  he  stood  alone  in  his  opinion  that  the  Word  of  God 
was  not  opposed  to  such  marriages,  he  should  be  ready  to 
suspect  the  soundness  of  his  judgment ;  but  when  he  found 
that  his  opinion  was  confirmed  by  some  of  the  ablest  and 
most  diligent  students  and  interpreters  of  the  Scriptures, 
he  felt  strengthened  in  the  conviction  that  the  restriction 
on  such  marriages  as  this  Bill  proposed  to  legalise  was  not 
founded  upon  any  authority  of  Scripture.  If,  then,  Scrip- 
'ture  did  not  support  the  existing  law,  was  it  wise  or  right 
to  make,  by  human  enactment,  that  a  sin  which  the  Word 
of  God  does  not  declare  to  be  a  sin  ? 

Of  course,  if  the  Scriptural  argument  against  such 
marriages  were  abandoned,  those  who  objected  to  them 
were,  as  every  one  acknowledged,  thrown  at  once  upon 
social  considerations.  Now  it  seemed  strange  to  assume 
that  the  various  social  evils  which  had  been  referred  to  would 
certainly  arise  in  this  country  if  these  marriages  were  legal- 
ised, although  in  countries  where  these  marriages  had  always 
been  permitted  by  law  no  such  evils  were  found  to  exist. 
He  believed  this  was  almost  the  only  country  in  the  world 
in  which  a  marriage  with  a  deceased  wife's  sister  was 
illegal ;  and  he  had  not  heard  that  any  of  the  social  evils 
which  existed  in  countries  where  such  unions  were  lawful 
could  be  directly  traced  to  the  state  of  the  law.  Bishop 
M'llvaine  stated  that  in  America,  although  these  marriages 
were  celebrated  without  disapprobation,  he  was  not  con- 

N 


1 78      LIFE   OF  BISHOP   ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

scious  of  any  evil  having  arisen  from  them.  But  it  was 
said  that  the  sanctity  and  purity  of  domestic  life  would  be 
imperilled  if  this  Bill  were  allowed  to  pass.  He  confessed, 
however,  that  he  had  a  far  higher  opinion  of  the  sanctity 
and  purity  of  domestic  life  in  this  country  than  to  believe 
that  it  rested  on  so  weak  a  foundation  as  a  restriction  which 
was  not  sanctioned  by  the  Word  of  God. 

He  believed  the  sanctity  and  purity  of  domestic  life 
would  remain  unaffected  if  this  Bill  became  law,  as  he 
sincerely  trusted  it  would.  All  the  arguments  employed 
with  respect  to  the  social  aspect  of  the  question  were 
directed  against  certain  imaginary  evils,  which  it  was 
assumed  would  arise  if  the  law  were  altered  ;  there  had 
been  no  allusion  whatever  to  the  great  social  evils  which 
existed  at  the  present  time,  and  which  might  be  directly 
traced  to  the  operation  of  the  law.  Was  it  no  evil  that 
we  should  have  a  law  which  was  found  in  practice  utterly 
impossible  to  maintain,  and  which  was  broken  and  violated 
continually?  Was  it  no  evil  that  there  should  exist  among 
a  large  class  of  the  population  a  sense  of  wrong  and 
oppression,  because  it  was  felt  that  the  law  of  the  land 
hindered  them  from  doing  that  which  by  the  law  of  God 
they  were  permitted  to  do  ?  Lastly,  was  it  no  evil  that  the 
existing  state  of  the  law  was  in  many  instances  directly 
provocative  of  crime  ?  . 

He  wished  to  adduce  some  testimony  on  this  point. 
His  Right  Rev.  Brother  who  last  addressed  the  House 
stated  that  he  had  been  stationed  in  many  different  parishes 
with  large  populations,  but  that  he  had  seen  no  evils  result- 
ing from  the  operation  of  the  law  as  it  now  stood.  The 
Right  Rev.  Prelate's  experience  had  been  singularly  fortu- 
nate. He  had  himself  had  the  care  of  parishes  with  large 
populations,  and  he  had  seen  very  great  evils  result  from  the 
operation  of  the  law.  He  would  not,  however,  quote  his 
own  authority,  but  would  take  the  testimony  of  one  who 
was  revered  by  a  very  large  number  of  Christians  in  this 
country,  and  who,  to  the  regret  of  his  friends,  had  been 
recently  removed  from  among  them — Dr.  Dale,  Dean  of 


DECEASED    WIFE'S  SISTERS  BILL.  179 

Rochester,  who  for  a  long  period  of  his  life  had  charge  of 
very  large  parishes.  .  .  . 

He  would  also  cite  the  testimony  of  another  divine, 
whose  name  was  never  mentioned  without  honour — he 
alluded  to  Dr.  Hook,  Dean  of  Chichester,  who  had,  perhaps, 
had  a  larger  experience  than  any  living  man  in  the  charge 
of  large  parishes.  Also  he  would  quote,  to  the  same  effect, 
the  Dean  of  Carlisle,  Dr.  Close,  and  the  testimony  of  the 
Dean  of  Lichfield,  better  known  as  Canon  Champneys. 

Such  were  the  opinions  of  eminently  practical  and  Chris- 
tian men  who  had  had  wide  experience  in  dealing  with 
large  parishes.  The  Bill  would  affect  a  class  of  cases  involv- 
ing very  great  hardships  which  ought  to  be  removed  by  the 
legislature.  After  the  passing  of  the  Act  of  1835,  com- 
monly called  Lord  Lyndhurst's  Act,  there  was  a  very 
general  impression — whether  a  right  one  or  not 'he  would 
not  say — that  persons  who  wished  to  contract  such  mar- 
riages as  were  under  discussion  might  legally  do  so  in 
a  foreign  country  where  such  marriages  were  lawful.  It 
was  believed  that  marriages  so  celebrated  were  lawful 
according  to  the  law  of  this  land.  In  very  many  instances 
persons  had  acted  in  this  belief;  they  had  gone  abroad  and 
had  complied  with  all  the  conditions  which  they  supposed 
necessary  to  make  their  marriage  valid  ;  and  it  was  not 
until  a  decision  to  the  contrary  was  recently  given  (Brook 
v.  Brook)  by  one  of  the  superior  courts  of  law  that  for  the 
first  time  they  learned  that  they  had  acted  under  a  mis- 
take, and  that  their  marriage  could  not  be  recognised  by 
the  law  of  this  country.  Such  persons  had  to  endure  a 
great  hardship  in  no  legal  remedy  being  provided  to  render 
valid  marriages  which  had  been  so  contracted.  This  Bill 
would  have  that  effect,  and  for  that,  among  other  reasons, 
he  most  earnestly  hoped  it  would  pass  into  law.  Believing, 
as  he  did,  that  the  restrictions  which  were  sought  to  be 
removed  were  not  founded  upon  any  authority  of  Scripture  ; 
that,  on  the  contrary,  the  Word  of  God  tacitly  sanctioned 
such  marriages  ;  that  the  existing  restrictions  imposed  a 
grievous  burden  on  men's  consciences,  and  that  they  were 


l8o      LIFE    OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

in  many  cases  provocative  of  crime  ;  and  believing  that  the 
alteration  of  the  law  would  be  a  great  relief  to  many  who 
justly  deserved  to  receive  it,  although  it  was  with  the  deepest 
regret  that  he  found  himself  at  variance  with  the  opinions 
of  so  many  for  whom  he  had  a  profound  respect,  he  must 
vote  in  favour  of  the  Bill. 

It  was  characteristic  of  my  father  that  he  never 
swerved  from  an  opinion  once  deliberately  formed ; 
and  he  continued  to  vote  on  the  same  side,  even 
when  he  had  no  longer  the  powerful  support  of  men 
like  Bishop  Thirl  wall ;  while  other  prelates,  who  felt 
less  strongly  on  the  matter,  shrank  from  opposing 
their  brethren  on  the  Bench  and  the  great  bulk  of 
clerical  opinion. 

At  the  request  of  some,  by  whom  the  impression 
which  it  made  is  still  remembered,  I  insert  here  the 
speech  which  my  father  delivered  on  the  second 
reading  of  the  Irish  Church  Disestablishment  Bill. 
As  an  example  of  his  style  the  speech  is  none  the 
less  valuable  because  it  was  delivered  in  aid  of  a 
lost  cause,  and  those  who  remember  the  circum- 
stances of  the  debate  and  read  it  with  attention,  will 
understand  why  some  good  judges  thought  that  my 
father's  speech  compared  not  unfavourably  with  the 
brilliant  oration  delivered  on  the  same  occasion  by 
Bishop  Magee. 
He  said- 
It  is  with  the  utmost  diffidence  that  I  venture  to  take 
any  part  in  this  debate.  Nothing  but  a  sense  of  duty 
would  induce  me  to  trespass,  even  for  a  few  moments,  on 
your  Lordships'  attention.  But  this  is  a  question  on  which 
I  cannot  give  a  silent  vote.  With  the  details  of  the  measure 
under  consideration  I  will  not  attempt  to  grapple  ;  partly 
because  I  look  upon  this  as  being  the  proper  stage  to 


THE  IRISH  CHURCH.  l8l 

discuss  its  principle,  and  partly  because  I  deem  it  right 
frankly  to  confess  that,  in  my  judgment,  that  principle  is 
so  bad,  that  I  despair  of  rendering  the  Bill  a  good  one  by 
any  manipulation  of  its  details. 

A  variety  of  arguments  have  been  urged  in  the  course 
of  this  debate  against  the  measure,  in  all  of  which  I  fully 
concur. 

Its  principle  is  the  disestablishment  and  disendowment 
of  the  Church  in  Ireland. 

Now  the  primary  objection  which  I  entertain  to  it  is, 
that  it  involves  the  assumption  that  it  is  no  part  of  the 
duty  of  a  Christian  State  to  connect  itself  with  the  main- 
tenance of  Christian  truth.  Should  this  Bill  become  law, 
the  State,  so  far  as  Ireland  is  concerned,  will  have  discon- 
nected itself  altogether  from  religion.  It  will  have  virtually 
declared  that  all  creeds  are  equally  true,  or  equally  false, 
that  it  will  recognise  none,  and  have  a  preference  for  none. 
This  conclusion  I  deprecate  in  the  interests  of  the  Church, 
but  still  more  in  the  interests  of  the  State  itself.  I  believe 
there  is  a  national  as  well  as  an  individual  responsibility. 
Nations  as  well  as  individuals  are  morally  accountable,  and 
we  cannot  ignore  this  responsibility  without  challenging 
the  disfavour  of  God.  If  we  believe  that  all  power  is  from 
God,  and  that  the  powers  which  be  are  ordained  of  God, 
then  I  cannot  see  how  it  can  be  right  for  those  in  possession 
of  power  to  ignore  their  responsibility  to  Him  from  Whom 
it  is  derived.  And  how,  I  would  ask,  is  a  State  to  exercise 
this  responsibility  except  by  connecting  itself  with  some 
ecclesiastical  organisation  ? 

Now  I,  for  one,  altogether  deny  that  the  question  on 
which  that  organisation  should  depend  is  the  question  of 
the  majority  of  the  people.  There  are  higher  questions 
than  that  at  issue.  The  question  of  truth  ought,  I  contend, 
to  be  paramount  to  every  other  consideration.  I  believe 
it  to  be  the  duty  of  a  Christian  State  in  determining  the 
ecclesiastical  organisation  with  which  it  is  to  connect  itself, 
to  look  mainly  and  chiefly  to  the  question  of  religious 
truth.  This  principle  is  recognised  by  the  British  Consti- 


1 82      LIFE    OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

tution.  The  Church  is  an  integral  portion  of  the  State. 
It  is  inseparably  connected  with  it.  You  cannot  impair  the 
position  of  the  one  without  injuring  that  of  the  other. 
You  cannot  destroy  the  Church  without  pulling  down  the 
Constitution  of  which  it  forms  a  part.  Notwithstanding,  I 
may  add,  all  that  has  been  said  on  the  subject,  I  confess 
I  entertain  the  opinion  that  the  principle  of  this  Bill  is 
inconsistent  with  the  Act  of  Union. 

It  must,  of  course,  be  admitted  that  it  is  competent  to 
Parliament  to  repeal  and  alter  laws  which  itself  has  made. 
This  is  the  case  with  reference  to  all  ordinary  Acts  of 
Parliament,  but  it  seems  to  me  that  the  case  is  altogether 
different  when  we  are  dealing  with  the  Act  which  has  been 
passed  for  an  express  purpose  to  ratify  a  treaty  entered 
into  between  two  independent  nations.  I,  for  one,  believe 
that  it  is  a  breach  of  national  faith  and  honour  to  ignore 
the  conditions  of  a  treaty  thus  solemnly  entered  into — con- 
ditions without  which  that  treaty  would  never  have  been 
accomplished. 

I  concur,  moreover,  in  the  opinion  that  this  measure  is 
calculated  to  have  an  indirect  effect  in  shaking  the  security 
of  property.  I  admit  that  there  is  a  difference  between  pri- 
vate and  corporate  property  ;  but  to  ignore  the  undisputed 
possession  of  three  hundred  years  is,  in  my  opinion,  to 
unsettle  the  security  for  all  property ;  and  this  Bill  I  think 
calculated  to  inflict  a  blow  on  the  security  of  property  of 
every  kind.  Upon  that  point  I  would  quote  the  testimony 
of  the  late  Mr.  Anthony  Richard  Blake,  a  Roman  Catholic 
layman,  given  on  oath  before  a  Parliamentary  Committee. 
He  said : — 

"  The  Protestant  Church  is  rooted  in  the  Constitution  ; 
it  is  established  by  the  fundamental  laws  of  the  realm  ;  it 
is  rendered,  as  far  as  the  most  solemn  acts  of  the  Legis- 
lature can  render  any  institution,  fundamental  and  per- 
petual ;  it  is  so  declared  by  the  Act  of  Union  between 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland.  I  think  it  could  not  now  be 
disturbed  without  danger  to  the  general  securities  we 
possess  for  liberty,  property,  and  order,  without  danger  to 


THE   PRINCIPLE   OF  ESTABLISHMENT.        183 

all  the  blessings  we  derive  from  being  under  a  lawful 
Government  and  a  free  Constitution.  Feeling  thus,  the 
very  conscience  which  dictates  to  me  a  determined  ad- 
herence to  the  Roman  Catholic  religion  would  dictate  to 
me  a  determined  resistance  to  any  attempt  to  subvert  the 
Protestant  Establishment,  or  to  wrest  from  the  Church  the 
possessions  which  the  law  has  given  it." 

I  entertain  another  objection  to  this  Bill,  founded  on 
what  I  conceive  to  be  the  probable  effect  of  its  passing 
into  law.  It  has  been  called  a  great  measure,  and  I  think, 
notwithstanding  what  fell  from  my  Right  Rev.  Brother  the 
other  night,  who  called  it  a  little  Bill,  that  it  is  a  great 
measure.  The  noble  Earl  who  moved  the  second  reading, 
told  us  that  it  had  engaged  the  most  anxious  labour  and 
thought  of  the  Government  in  its  preparation.  The  noble 
Lord  who  moved  its  rejection,  spoke  of  its  striking  at  the 
roots  of  the  Constitution.  By  others  it  has  been  termed, 
and  I  think  rightly,  a  revolutionary  Bill ;  but,  be  that  as  it 
may,  few,  I  presume,  will  deny  that  it  is  a  measure  of 
great  importance.  If  that  be  so,  I  cannot  help  feeling 
that  we  are  entitled  to  ask  for  some  evidence  to  show  that 
it  will  accomplish  the  end  which  its  authors  propose  to 
themselves — an  end  which  we  all  desire  to  see  attained — 
the  welfare  and  prosperity  of  the  sister  country.  Is  this 
Bill,  then,  likely  to  promote  the  pacification  of  Ireland,  or  to 
confer  important  benefits  on  that  country  ?  My  own  con- 
viction is,  that  if  passed  into  law,  it  will  not  have  a 
feather's  weight  in  producing  contentment  and  peace  in 
Ireland.  And  in  support  of  this  view,  I  would  ask,  in  what 
manner  has  it  already  been  received  by  the  Irish  people  ? 
Has  the  notice  of  it  been  welcomed  as  an  olive  branch  of 
peace,  or  has  it  not  rather  been  received  as  an  apple  of 
discord  ?  Has  not  the  discontent  by  which  that  unhappy 
country  has  so  long  been  distracted  been  rather  increased 
than  otherwise,  since  the  measure  has  been  brought  under  the 
consideration  of  Parliament  ?  Are  your  Lordships  not  aware 
that  the  great  grievance  of  Ireland,  as  proclaimed  by  the 
Roman  Catholics  of  that  country,  is,  not  the  existence  of 


184      LIFE    OF  BISHOP   ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

the  Established  Church,but  the  position  of  the  land  question ; 
and  that  Irish  Roman  Catholics  affirm,  they  will  never  be 
satisfied  until  that  question  is  settled  ? 

I  entertain  another  objection  to  this  Bill,  founded  upon 
the  inopportune  period  at  which  it  seems  to  me  to  have 
been  introduced. 

Among  the  many  arguments  employed  in  favour  of 
this  measure  there  is  one  that  is  frequently  used — that 
the  Established  Church  in  Ireland  has  not  discharged  its 
missionary  obligations  ;  that  it  has  failed  to  perform  the 
duties  that  devolve  upon  it  with  regard  to  the  whole 
population  of  Ireland.  I  must  say  here  that  the  clergy  of 
the  Established  Church  in  Ireland  have,  as  it  appears  to 
me,  been  very  unfairly  dealt  with.  If  they  confine  their 
ministrations  to  the  Protestant  parishioners  of  their  re- 
spective parishes,  they  are  told  that  the  Church  has  failed 
in  discharging  its  missionary  obligations  ;  and  if,  on  the 
other  hand,  they  display  any  zeal  in  endeavouring  to  gain 
converts  from  among  the  Roman  Catholics,  they  are 
immediately  denounced  as  firebrands.  And  yet  it  must  be 
within  the  cognisance  of  all  your  Lordships  that  there  has 
been  a  most  remarkable  revival  of  fervour  and  zeal  among 
the  clergy  of  late  years,  showing  itself  in  increased  efforts 
for  the  conversion  of  the  Roman  Catholic  population,  and 
that  these  efforts  have  been  attended  by  the  most  remark- 
able success.  Having  visited  those  portions  of  Ireland 
where  these  missionary  efforts  have  been  most  vigorously 
and  actively  carried  forward,  I  can  testify,  from  personal 
observation,  to  the  importance  and  genuineness  of  the 
work  which  is  being  accomplished. 

But  we  are  not  merely  dependent  for  proof  of  the 
success  upon  Protestant  testimony.  The  Nation,  the  organ 
of  the  intensely  Irish  party  in  the  country,  says  of 
Ireland  : — 

"  There  can  no  longer  be  any  question  that  the  sys- 
tematised  proselytism  has  met  with  an  immense  success  in 
Connaught  and  Kerry. 

"  It  is  true  that  the  altars  of  the  Catholic  Church  have 


ROMAN  CATHOLIC   TESTIMONY.  185 

been  deserted  by  thousands,  born  and  baptized  in  the 
ancient  faith  of  Ireland.  Travellers  who  have  recently 
visited  the  counties  of  Galway  and  Mayo  report  that  *  the 
agents  of  that  foul  and  abominable  traffic ' "  (the  term  they 
apply  to  the  work  of  our  Church)  "  are  every  day  opening 
new  schools  of  perversion,  and  are  founding  new  churches 
for  the  accommodation  of  their  purchased  congregations. 
Witnesses  more  trustworthy  than  Sir  Francis  Head,  Catholic 
Irishmen  who  grieve  to  behold  the  spread  and  success  of 
the  apostacy,  tell  us  that  the  west  of  Ireland  is  deserting 
the  ancient  fold  ;  and  that  a  class  of  Protestants,  more 
bigoted  and  anti-Irish,  if  possible,  than  the  followers  of  the 
old  Establishment,  is  grown  up  from  the  recreant  peasantry 
and  their  children." 

We  have,  then,  incontrovertible  evidence  of  the  fact 
that  the  Church  in  general  is  making  exertions  hitherto 
unexampled  in  modern  times  for  the  purpose  of  winning 
Roman  Catholics  to  the  fold  of  the  Established  Church  ; 
and  yet  we  are  told,  as  an  argument  in  support  of  this 
measure,  that  the  Irish  Church  has  failed  to  discharge  its 
missionary  obligations. 

But  this  measure  is  recommended  to  us  on  the  plea  of 
justice  and  religious  equality.  There  is  one  consideration 
with  respect  to  this  plea  of  justice  which  has  occurred 
forcibly  to  my  mind  in  the  course  of  this  debate.  Justice 
is  a  high  and  sacred  principle.  Now,  if  there  is  injustice 
in  the  existence  of  the  Established  Church  in  Ireland  at 
the  present  moment,  there  must  have  been  injustice  in  its 
establishment  at  the  time  of  the  Union,  and  there  must 
have  been  injustice  in  its  continuance  from  the  time  of  the 
Union  down  to  the  present  moment.  If  this  be  so,  how  is 
it  that  the  plea  of  justice  has  never  been  mooted  before  ? 
It  is  not  that  Ireland  has  been  neglected  in  the  delibera- 
tions of  British  statesmen.  It  is  not  that  Ireland  has  not 
had  its  full  share  in  the  consideration  of  Parliament. 
Statesmen  the  most  sagacious,  keen-sighted,  and  far-seeing 
have,  from  time  to  time,  considered  the  interests  of  Ireland. 
Ireland  has  given  rise  to  questions  which  have,  I  believe, 


1 86      LIFE    OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

on  more  than  one  occasion  decided  the  fate  of  Govern- 
ments ;  it  has  occupied  the  anxious  and  solicitous  attention 
of  numbers  of  those  who  have  been  called  to  the  helm  of 
the  Constitution.  Are  we  to  suppose  that  they  have  not 
been  far-sighted  enough  to  see  the  injustice,  if  it  existed  ; 
or  are  we  to  admit — a  supposition  which  is  still  more 
untenable — that  if  they  did  perceive  the  injustice,  they 
were  unwilling  to  interfere  to  redress  the  grievance  ?  But 
I  take  the  testimony  of  a  Roman  Catholic  on  this  point, 
and,  according  to  his  testimony,  I  think  it  is  conclusive 
that,  in  the  opinion  of  some  enlightened  Roman  Catholics, 
there  is,  in  reality,  no  such  injustice.  Dr.  Slevin,  a  Roman 
Catholic  professor  at  Maynooth,  in  his  evidence  before  the 
Commissioners  of  Education  in  1826,  said — 

"I  consider  that  the  present  possessors  of  Church  property 
in  Ireland,  of  whatever  description  they  may  be,  have  a 
just  title  to  it.  They  have  been  bond  fide  possessors  of  it 
for  all  the  time  required  by  any  law  for  prescription  ;  even 
according  to  the  pretensions  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  which 
require  one  hundred  years." 

Another  plea  is  that  of  religious  equality.  I  would  not 
on  any  consideration  utter  a  harsh  or  unkind  word  with 
respect  to  my  Roman  Catholic  fellow-subjects.  I  am  not 
conscious  of  entertaining  an  unkind  feeling  towards  them, 
or  of  having,  at  any  time,  uttered  against  them  an  un- 
charitable word.  I  believe  toleration  is  a  great  principle, 
and  that  to  exercise  toleration  is  the  duty  of  a  Christian 
State  as  well  as  of  a  Christian  Church ;  but  equality,  as 
between  Roman  Catholics  and  Protestants,  you  cannot 
possibly  have.  It  is  not  in  the  essence  of  Roman  Catholic- 
ism ;  it  is  not  in  the  essence  of  Protestantism.  Between  the 
two  there  is  an  impassable  gulf.  We  Protestants  hold  that 
Roman  Catholics  entertain  fundamental  errors,  and  the 
Church  of  Rome  hurls  her  anathemas  against  Protestants 
for  repudiating  that  which  she  maintains  to  be  fundamental 
truth.  The  effect  of  this  measure  will  be  to  produce,  not 
religious  equality,  but  Romish  ascendency.  I  believe  no 
other  result  will  follow  this  measure,  than  to  give  to  Rome 


FEELING  IN   YORKSHIRE.  187 

the  ascendency  in  Ireland ;  and,  therefore,  the  very  evil  of 
which  the  noble  Earl  complains,  would  exist,  even  if  this 
Bill  were  passed  into  law. 

I  will  not  touch  upon  another  question — the  verdict  of 
the  country  with  regard  to  this  measure — beyond  saying 
that  I  concur  with  those  who  have  said  that  they  are 
not  satisfied  that  the  verdict  of  the  country  has  been 
pronounced  upon  this  particular  Bill.  I  will  go  even  further 
than  this.  It  is  my  honest  conviction  that  there  is  a 
change  coming  about  in  the  feelings  of  the  country  at 
large  with  respect  to  this  Bill ;  and  although  a  taunt  was 
thrown  out  the  other  evening  with  regard  to  what  were 
called  the  tumultuous  assemblages  which  have  been  con- 
vened with  regard  to  this  measure,  I  cannot  help  saying 
that  in  that  part  of  the  country  with  which  I  am  officially 
connected,  and  especially  in  the  great  towns  of  the  West 
Riding  of  Yorkshire,  I  have  satisfactory  evidence  that  there 
has  been  a  change  in  the  feeling  with  regard  to  this  measure 
— a  change  expressed  not  in  noise  or  tumult,  but  in  calm, 
clear,  and  unwavering  utterances  of  dissatisfaction  and  dis- 
appointment ;  and  it  is  my  conviction,  that  if  your  Lord- 
ships reject  this  Bill  on  the  second  reading,  and  it  be 
submitted  to  the  country  for  further  investigation  and  con- 
sideration, the  verdict  of  the  country  will  ultimately  confirm 
and  approve  the  decision  of  your  Lordships. 

I  listened  with  the  greatest  attention  to  the  speech  of 
the  noble  Earl  who  addressed  the  House  at  the  opening 
of  the  debate  on  Tuesday  evening  (Earl  Grey),  when  he 
endeavoured  to  show  that  it  was  our  duty  to  accept  the 
second  reading  of  the  Bill,  and  then  try  and  improve  it  in 
Committee.  If  it  were  merely  a  question  of  political  ex- 
pediency, if  no  moral  considerations  were  involved,  I  might 
feel  disposed  to  accept  that  advice ;  but,  believing,  as  I  do, 
that  it  involves  moral  considerations  of  the  highest  import- 
ance, I  cannot  prefer  to  accept  expediency  as  my  guide, 
rather  than  what  is  morally  right ;  believing,  as  I  in  my 
conscience  do,  that  this  Bill  is  not  called  for  by  any  claim 
for  justice  to  Ireland  ;  believing  that  it  will  not  confer  any 


1 88      LIFE    OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

lasting  benefit  upon  that  distracted  and  unhappy  portion 
of  the  United  Kingdom  ;  believing  that  it  will  prove  a  blow 
to  Protestantism,  and  a  triumph  to  Romanism  ;  believing 
that  it  will  exasperate  Protestants,  without  conciliating 
Romanists  ;  believing,  further,  that  it  will  necessarily  be  the 
precursor  to  other  measures  still  more  disastrous  to  the 
Church  and  the  Constitution  ;  believing  that  the  adoption 
of  this  measure  would  amount  to  a  national  sin,  and  that 
what  is  morally  wrong  can  never  be  politically  right, — I 
must  enter  my  protest  against  the  second  reading  of  this 
Bill. 

During  his  shorter  visits  to  London,  when  my 
father  was  alone,  he  stayed  at  the  National  Club, 
in  Whitehall  Gardens ;  and  at  other  times  he  was 
the  guest  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Isaac  Braithwaite,  who 
had  been  amongst  his  chief  friends  and  supporters 
at  St.  Giles's.  Occasionally  he  was  obliged  to  stay 
in  town,  sorely  against  his  will,  for  a  longer  period, 
and  then  he  usually  occupied  a  house  in  South  Ken- 
sington. In  London  his  Sundays  were  fully  occu- 
pied. Once  he  wrote  home  to  say,  "  I  wish  I  had 
a  sermon  every  night,  for  I  feel  so  idle  when  I  am 
away  from  the  diocese."  And  no  wonder  that  he 
liked  to  preach,  when  he  was  cheered  with  abundant 
proof  of  the  way  in  which  people  hungered  for  the 
Word  of  God.  He  wrote  on  March  23,  1858  :— 

Last  night,  after  remaining  in  the  House  till  near  seven, 
I  went  to  preach  in  Spitalfields.  I  think  you  would  have 
been  greatly  struck  with  the  scene.  It  is  a  very  large 
church.  It  is  where  I  was  once  lecturer  for  a  short  time, 
when  I  first  came  to  Clapham.  It  was  crowded  with  the 
poor  Spitalfields  weavers  from  end  to  end.  Galleries  and 
aisles  all  full,  and  many  standing.  Patteson  read  the  Litany, 
and  then  I  preached  for  fifty  minutes.  They  were  amazingly 
attentive,  and  listened  with  great  eagerness  to  the  end. 


POLITICAL    OPINIONS.  189 

When  all  was  over  I  yielded  to  Patteson's  entreaty,  and 
went  into  the  rectory,  which  was  close  by.  Presently  some 
one  came  and  told  us  that  the  crowd  was  waiting  at  the 
church  door,  and  would  not  go  away  till  I  was  gone.  He 
sent  one  of  his  curates  with  a  message  that  I  should  be  in 
his  house  for  half  an  hour,  and  it  was  no  good  their  waiting. 
However,  they  said  they  did  not  care  ;  they  would  wait. 
And  when,  at  last,  I  came  out,  they  were  in  great  numbers 
filling  up  the  street,  and  standing  all  round  the  cab.  So  I 
just  called  out  once  or  twice,  "  God  bless  you  all,  my  good 
people !  "  and  they  then  cried  out,  "  God  bless  you,  sir  ;  God 
bless  you  !  Thank  you  ;  and  won't  you  come  again  ?  "  It 
was  very  touching,  and  one  cannot  help  hoping  there  may 
be  some  fruit  seen  from  it  in  Eternity.  The  Bishop  of 
London  has  asked  me  to  preach  for  him  in  April.  I  said, 
"  By  all  means  ;  only,  please  don't  send  me  to  Deptford." 
"  Oh,"  he  said,  "  but  that  is  where  they  want  to  have  you 
again."  So  one  hopes  my  stay  in  London  may  have  been, 
through  God's  grace  and  mercy,  of  some  blessing  to  some. 

On  questions  of  general  politics  my  father  was 
in  the  main  a  Liberal.  His  genuine  sympathy  with 
freedom  and  progress,  and  hearty  advocacy  of  all 
schemes  calculated  to  advance  the  interest  of  the 
working  classes,  leave  no  doubt  as  to  the  spirit  in 
which  he  was  ready  to  approach  the  perplexing 
social  problems  of  the  day  ;  but  when  confronted 
by  those  who  advocated  a  more  Radical  pro- 
gramme, he  would  frequently  describe  himself  as  a 
"  Palmerstonian,"  in  playful  allusion  to  the  Minister 
to  whose  recommendation  (under  Divine  Provi- 
dence) he  owed  his  bishopric.  He  possessed  the 
friendship  and  respect  of  political  leaders  on  both 
sides  ;  and  Mr.  Gladstone  and  Lord  Beacons- 
field  alike  placed  considerable  reliance  on  his  judg- 
ment. Confidential  inquiries  as  to  the  fitness  of 


1 90      LIFE    OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

particular  men  for  important  posts  are  not  available 
to  illustrate  this  without  trenching  upon  boundaries 
of  discretion  which  ought  not  to  be  overstepped  ; 
but  there  is  no  reason  why  it  should  not  be  known 
that  in  one  weighty  instance,  and  that  a  case  of  no 
little  difficulty,  Mr.  Gladstone  in  after-years  expressed 
his  satisfaction  that  the  Bishop's  advice  should  have 
turned  the  scale  in  the  direction  of  a  particular 
appointment.  The  nomination  in  question  had  in 
some  quarters  been  warmly  opposed,  and  in  others 
its  announcement  was  received  with  a  certain  amount 
of  disfavour ;  but  it  has  since  been  reckoned  by 
universal  consent  amongst  the  substantial  benefits 
which  Mr.  Gladstone  has  conferred  upon  the  Church. 

Less  reserve  is  necessary  in  making  public  the 
following  letter  from  Lord  Beaconsfield,  which  will 
be  interesting  to  many  people,  not  only  because  it 
shows  what  that  eminent  statesman  thought  of  my 
father's  judgment,  but  also  because  it  shows  that 
Lord  Beaconsfield  himself  deserves  credit  for  a  deep 
sense  of  responsibility  in  his  ecclesiastical  appoint- 
ments, and  for  a  personal  interest  in  theological 
questions,  which  he  has  not  generally  received. 

My  father  wrote  to  inform  him  of  the  sudden 
death  of  Dr.  Goode,  and  received  the  following 

reply  :- 

[Confidential.'] 

Hughenden  Manor,  August  15,  1868. 

My  dear  Lord, — Your  letter  of  the  I3th  instant  gave 
me  a  great  shock.  You  will  fully  comprehend  this,  when 
I  tell  you,  in  confidence,  that  being  forced  to  consider 
within  the  last  few  days,  unhappily,  the  probability  of  a 
vacancy  on  the  Bench  which  you  yourself  adorn,  I  contem- 
plated advising  the  Queen  to  nominate  the  Dean  of  Ripon 


LETTERS  FROM  LORD  BEACONSFIELD.       IQI 

to  the  See,  which  would  in  that  event  have  been  at  Her 
Majesty's  disposal.  It  is  therefore  unnecessary  for  me  to 
assure  your  Lordship  that  you  need  be  under  no  appre- 
hension, that  in  the  appointment  of  his  successor,  I  shall 
not  be  influenced  by  the  representations  which  you  have 
made  to  me.  I  am  myself  bound  up  with  no  party  in  the 
Church.  I  frankly  admit  that  my  bias,  years  ago,  was  to 
High  Church  principles,  which  I  held  not  only  to  be  con- 
sistent with  the  principles  of  the  Reformation,  but  their 
best  safeguard  and  security.  The  secession  of  Dr.  New- 
man, however,  and  his  friends  very  much  affected  me  in 
this  respect,  and  I  have  ever  laboured  since  to  induce 
moderate  men  of  both  parties  to  act  together  against  the 
combined  efforts  of  disguised  Jesuits  and  avowed  infidels. 
I  should  feel  very  much  obliged  to  your  Lordship  if,  in 
confidence,  you  would  indicate  to  me  any  men  who,  not 
only  from  their  Protestant  principles,  but  their  becoming 
learning,  knowledge  of  mankind,  and  administrative  power, 
would  be  fitting  in  your  opinion  for  the  Prelacy.  No  one 
is  more  impressed  than  myself  with  the  present  critical 
state  of  affairs,  both  for  the  Church  and  the  Nation.  It 
cannot  be  exaggerated.  But  whatever  may  happen,  I  wish 
to  have  the  consolation,  that  in  a  responsible  position  I 
have,  under  Divine  Providence,  done  my  utmost  to  main- 
tain the  true  interests  of  the  Church  of  England. 

I  have  the  honour  to  remain,  my  dear  Lord, 

Yours  faithfully, 

B.  DISRAELI. 

Another  expression  of  Lord  BeaconsfielcTs  views 
on  ecclesiastical  questions  occurs  in  the  following 
letter,  written  by  Bishop  Baring  to  my  father  :— 

Auckland  Castle,  Bishop  Auckland,  December  9,  1878. 

My  dear  Bishop, — You  will  have  heard  of  my  intended 
resignation  of  my  See.  To  my  great  surprise,  not  only  did 
Lord  Beaconsfield  write  in  reply  a  most  kind  and  com- 
plimentary letter,  but  added  at  its  close,  "Ecclesiastical 


LIFE   OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 


appointments  in  these  days  of  difficulty  and  trial  are  those 
which  cost  me  the  greatest  anxiety.  I  should  feel  obliged 
to  you  if,  in  strict  confidence,  you  would  give  me  some 
names  of  those  whom  I  might  consider  for  your  See." 

I  have  sent  him  but  two  names,  and  have  placed  yours 
very  decidedly  first.  There  will  be  doubtless  other  influ- 
ences at  work,  but  I  think  it  possible  that  without  letting 
any  one  know  the  contents  of  this  letter,  you  might  know 
some  friend  of  Lord  Beaconsfield  who  would  confirm  my 
recommendation. 

Yours  very  truly, 

C.  DUNELM. 

Those  who  knew  my  father  need  not  be  told 
that  he  did  not  act  on  the  Bishop's  suggestion. 
Never  in  his  life  did  he  ask  for  preferment  for  him- 
self; l  and  he  wrote  to  Bishop  Baring,  grateful  for  his 
kind  thought,  but  saying  that  he  left  all  such  matters 
in  the  Hand  of  God,  and  would  certainly  make  no 
effort  in  his  own  behalf. 

Lord  Beaconsfield  was  happily  guided  to  the 
choice  of  Dr.  Lightfoot,  and  my  father's  friends 
cannot  regret  that  he  was  not  summoned  to  under- 
take a  new  charge  at  a  time  when  his  working  days 
were  drawing  to  a  close,  and  when  it  needed  the 
strength  and  vigour  of  a  younger  man  to  divide 
the  great  Border  diocese,  and  to  create  the  See  of 
Newcastle. 

It  is  in  this  chapter  that  I  have  tried  to  show 
something  of  my  father's  public  work  outside  the 
diocese.  When  in  London,  he  was  constant  in  his 
attendance  at  the  Bounty  Board  ;  and  on  the  Eccle- 

1  The  occasion  mentioned  in  my  father's  letter,  quoted  on  p.  134,  can  hardly 
be  called  an  exception.  The  allusion  in  that  letter  is  to  my  father's  unsuc- 
cessful candidature  for  a  London  preachership,  to  which  no  one  could  be 
appointed  who  had  not  allowed  his  name  to  be  brought  before  the  electors. 


LONDON    WORK.  193 


siastical  Commission  his  business  talents  were  the 
admiration  of  his  brethren  on  the  Bench.  One  of 
them,  Dr.  Thorold,  of  Rochester,  who  followed  my 
father  at  St.  Giles's,  wrote  an  obituary  notice  for 
Church  Bells,  in  which  he  says — 

As  a  speaker  and  debater  he  was  cogent,  vigorous,  and 
sometimes  impassioned.  His  striking  presence,  singularly 
beautiful  countenance,  and  melodious  voice,  winged  his 
words.  One  adjective  exactly  characterises  his  administra- 
tion— habilis.  He  was  one  of  the  ablest  men  that  ever  sat 
on  the  Bench  ;  and  the  writer  of  this  notice  well  remembers 
once  sitting  with  him  at  a  Trust  meeting,  and  observing 
how  the  Junior  Optime,  by  his  quickness  of  resource,  de- 
cision of  character,  and  prompt  acumen,  distanced  in  his 
faculty  of  business  a  double  first  class  man  at  his  side,  as 
completely  as  a  greyhound  would  run  past  a  cob.  He  saw 
instantly  the  kernel  of  a  question,  went  at  it,  and,  when  it 
was  possible,  settled  it. 

My  father  usually  spent  the  months  of  May  and 
June  in  London,  ever  ready  to  preach  for  charitable 
objects  ;  and  no  bishop  figured  more  often  at  the 
meetings  of  the  great  societies  in  Exeter  Hall. 

The  old-fashioned  prejudice  against  the  appear- 
ance of  bishops  at  such  meetings  has  long  passed 
away,  and  the  Evangelical  clergy  no  longer  mono- 
polise the  month  of  May  with  meetings  of  an  exclu- 
sively party  character.  If  the  Evangelical  bishops 
led  the  way,  the  great  body  of  their  brethren  now 
take  their  place  as  platform  speakers  ;  but  none  have 
exercised  a  more  powerful  influence  over  the  public 
of  Exeter  Hall  than  he  who  gained  their  veneration 
as  Rector  of  St.  Giles's,  and  made  the  name  of  the 
Bishop  of  Ripon  a  household  word  throughout  the 
Evangelical  world. 

° 


CHAPTER  XII. 

OPINIONS    ON   QUESTIONS    OF    THE    DAY. 

Opinions  on  various  subjects — "  Essays  and  Reviews " — Letter  to  a 
clergyman  and  extract  from  Charge  on  rationalistic  interpretation 
of  Holy  Scripture — A  subtle  connection  between  rationalism  and 
superstition — Condemnation  of  Ritualism — Letter  to  a  clergyman 
— Criticism  on  an  erroneous  definition  of  the  "  Real  Presence  "— 
Wears  the  cope  in  Ripon  Cathedral — Dislike  of  prosecution  for 
ecclesiastical  offences — An  eloquent  appeal  for  personal  holiness 
in  the  clergy. 

IT  has  been  often  noticed  that  during  the  whole  of 
my  father's  long  episcopate,  the  diocese  was  quite 
free  from  any  of  those  vexatious  prosecutions  for 
ritualistic  practices  which  excited  elsewhere  so  much 
ill  feeling,  and  are  now  generally  condemned.  And 
yet  the  diocese  of  Ripon  contains  representatives  of 
all  parties  within  the  Church,  and  there  were  times 
when  it  needed  much  patience  and  forbearance  to 
prevent  the  combustible  elements  from  bursting  into 
flame. 

People  who  knew  how  strong  my  father's  per- 
sonal convictions  were,  and  how  heartily  he  disliked 
whatever  he  thought  was  disloyalty  to  the  principles 
of  the  Reformation,  wondered  at  this  result.  The 
limits  of  this  book  would  be  unduly  extended  were  a 
detailed  account  to  be  given  of  the  different  questions 


"ESSAYS  AND  REVIEWS." 


which  came  before  him  ;  but  it  is  only  right  to  show 
what  were  my  father's  opinions  on  some  of  those 
matters  which  still  perplex  the  Church,  and  how  he 
dealt  with  various  cases  of  complaint. 

In  the  autumn  of  1860  was  published  the  once 
celebrated  volume  entitled  "  Essays  and  Reviews." 
In  one  book  were  bound  up  some  articles  to  which, 
in  themselves,  little  exception  could  be  taken,  with 
others  which  were  perceived  to  strike  at  the  founda- 
tion of  the  Faith  ;  and  the  publication,  as  a  whole,  gave 
rise  to  the  gravest  apprehension.  My  father  joined 
with  the  other  bishops  in  uttering  a  solemn  protest 
against  the  book,  but  expressly  declined  to  be  a 
party  to  the  prosecution  of  the  authors.  In  answer 
to  a  clergyman  in  the  diocese,  who  forwarded  a 
petition  on  the  subject,  my  father  wrote— 

My  dear  Sir,  —  I  beg  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your 
letter  of  the  i6th  instant,  which  has  reached  me  by  this 
morning's  post. 

I  do  not  believe  there  is  a  single  clergyman  in  this 
diocese  who  can  have  any  doubt  as  to  the  opinion  which 
I  entertain  respecting  the  volume  entitled  "  Essays  and 
Reviews."  I  have  never  attempted  to  conceal  the  ab- 
horrence with  which  I  regard  the  spirit  of  irreverence  and 
unbelief  with  which  the  truth  of  God's  Word  is  handled  in 
that  pernicious  book. 

At  the  same  time,  and  with  special  reference  to  the  line 
of  conduct  which  you  suggest  at  the  present  crisis,  you 
must  allow  me  to  say  that  it  is  in  my  judgment  a  point 
of  practical  wisdom  to  refrain  from  a  course  of  active 
opposition,  in  the  face  of  an  absolute  certainty  that  such 
opposition  will  be  of  no  avail  whatever  to  avert  the  result 
at  which  it  is  aimed. 

Our  best  resource,  under  existing  circumstances,  is 
earnest  prayer  that  God  may  be  pleased  to  overrule  for 


196      LIFE    OF  BISHOP   ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

good  the  many  trials  with  which  the  Church  is  at  this  time 
afflicted. 

Believe  me, 

Very  faithfully  yours, 

R.  RlPON. 

In  the  Charge  of  1861,  after  alluding  to  the  pro- 
posed revision  of  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  which 
was  then  desired  by  those  who  were  anxious  to  be 
rid  of  the  Athanasian  Creed,  etc. — a  proposal  which 
he  emphatically  condemned — my  father  went  on 
to  say- 
Important,  however,  as  the  foregoing  topics  are,  they 
are  trifling  in  comparison  of  the  perils  by  which  we  are 
threatened  from  a  different  quarter.  I  refer  to  the  dissemi- 
nation, on  the  part  of  eminently  learned  and  distinguished 
members  of  our  Church,  of  opinions  which  go  to  unsettle 
all  the  grand  fundamentals  of  the  Christian  Faith,  which 
scoff  at  the  idea  of  a  direct  inspiration  from  God,  exalt  the 
human  intellect  to  the  position  of  sitting  in  judgment  on 
revealed  truth,  discard  the  doctrine  of  the  Atonement,  dis- 
credit the  truth  of  prophecy,  and  disparage  the  evidence 
of  miracle. 

It  is,  indeed,  cause  for  humiliation  and  reproach  that 
opinions  such  as  these  should  have  emanated  from 
members  of  our  own  Church,  upon  several  of  whom  the 
solemn  vows  of  ordination  rest  to  dispense  faithfully 
the  Word  of  God,  and  to  administer  the  Holy  Sacraments. 
We  have  surely  fallen  on  perilous  times  when  ordained 
ministers,  who  have  professed  to  subscribe  willingly  and 
ex  animo  our  Thirty-nine  Articles,  and  all  things  contained 
in  them,  can  reconcile  it  to  their  sworn  allegiance  to  the 
Church  at  whose  altars  they  minister,  to  propagate  opinions 
to  which  avowed  infidels  turn  in  confirmation  of  their 
sceptical  theories.  I  fully  agree  in  what  has  been  so  ably 
and  truly  said  of  the  book  to  which  these  remarks  mainly 
refer,  by  one  whose  judgment  is  entitled  to  great  considera- 


INSPIRATION   OF  HOLY  SCRIPTURE.  1 97 

tion  : — "  I  say,  without  the  shadow  of  a  doubt,  that  the 
book  does  tend  and  minister  to  infidelity,  and  to  nothing 
else.  It  tends  neither  to  real  soundness  and  clearness  of 
thought,  nor  yet  to  real  truth,  nor  yet  to  a  high  standard 
of  action  ;  it  will  not  add  one  to  the  Kingdom  of  God  ;  it 
will  not  convince  a  single  gainsayer  of  any  one  Christian 
truth  ;  it  will  not  win  over  to  Christ  a  single  enemy  ;  it 
will  not  confirm  a  single  waverer ;  it  will  not  satisfy  a 
single  doubt,  or  solve  a  single  difficulty ;  it  will  but  suggest 
doubts  where  they  have  been  hitherto  unthought  of,  and 
confirm  them  where  they  already  exist." l 

It  is  not  my  intention  here  to  detain  you  by  any  refuta- 
tion of  these  pernicious  writings,  still  less  to  indulge  in  any 
harsh  expressions  concerning  their  unhappy  authors  ;  but 
I  should  be  unfaithful  to  my  office  were  I  not  to  deliver  a 
warning  against  them.  You  will  find  it  common  to  all  the 
writings  to  which  I  have  referred  to  call  in  question  the 
authority  of  the  Bible  as  the  inspired  Word  of  God,  to 
overlook  the  fundamental  doctrine  of  the  corruption  of 
human  nature,  and  to  invalidate  the  doctrine  of  the  Atone- 
ment of  our  Blessed  Lord  and  Saviour.  Be  it  your  con- 
stant endeavour,  my  Reverend  Brethren,  to  set  these 
doctrines  plainly  forth,  and  the  rather  because  of  the 
assault  which  has  been  directed  against  them.  Uphold 
the  doctrine  of  the  Inspiration  ;  show  in  what  sense  you 
regard  the  Bible  to  be  an  inspired  record  ;  not  because  you 
take  it  to  be  the  production  of  men  of  brilliant  genius,  but 
because  you  believe  it  to  have  been  written  by  men  who 
spake  as  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  The  dis- 
tinction between  the  Inspiration  of  Scripture  and  that  of 
any  other  production  of  human  intellect  is  not  a  difference 
of  degree,  it  is  a  difference  of  kind.  In  the  imagery  of 
Homer,  or  the  rapturous  flights  of  Milton,  I  recognise  the 
play  of  marvellous  intellect;  but  this  is  as  remote  as 
possible  from  the  Inspiration  of  the  Bible.  In  the  one  case 
the  production  is  human  ;  in  the  other,  Divine.  In  the  one 

1  "  Supremacy  of  Scripture  :  an  Examination,  etc.,  in  a  Letter  to  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Temple."     By  William  Edward  Jelf,  D.D. 


198      LIFE    OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

case,  I  may  criticise,  censure,  or  approve.  In  the  other,  I 
hear  the  Voice  of  the  ever-living  Jehovah,  which  it  must  be 
at  my  peril  to  disregard.  You  cannot  be  too  careful  to 
point  out  that  while  it  comes  legitimately  within  the  pro- 
vince of  reason  to  collect  and  to  weigh  the  evidences 
upon  which  the  truth  of  Inspiration  depends,  having  once 
established  the  point  that  the  Bible  is  Divinely  inspired, 
our  only  attitude  with  regard  to  its  statements  must  ever 
afterwards  be  that  of  reverential  submission. 

Dwell  likewise  upon  the  doctrine  of  human  corruption. 
Let  there  be  no  reservation  on  this  point.  Scripture  is 
plain :  be  our  expositions  of  Scripture  plain  also.  Man  is 
by  nature  alienated  from  God,  afar  off,  an  enemy  in  his 
mind  by  wicked  works — the  heart  deceitful  above  all 
things,  and  desperately  wicked — the  carnal  mind  at  enmity 
against  God,  the  understanding  darkened,  the  will  per- 
verted, and  the  moral  powers  enfeebled.  "The  natural 
man  receiveth  not  the  things  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  for  they 
are  foolishness  unto  him,  neither  can  he  know  them, 
because  they  are  spiritually  discerned/'  The  reception  of 
such  Scriptural  statements  as  these  will  leave  no  plea  for 
the  arrogant  assumption  of  "  a  verifying  faculty "  in  man 
qualifying  him  to  sit  in  judgment  upon  the  truth  of 
Revelation. 

In  the  Charge  of  1864,  after  dealing  as  usual 
with  diocesan  details,  my  father  went  on  to  trace, 
in  a  passage  of  much  force,  the  subtle  connection 
between  two  apparently  opposite  tendencies  which 
he  equally  condemned  : — 

Within  the  memory  of  most  of  those  whom  I  am  now 
addressing,  two  opposite  schools  of  theology  have  displayed 
within  the  bosom  of  our  Church  the  greatest  activity. 
They  are  still  striving  for  ascendency.  The  distinguishing 
feature  of  the  one  is  the  exaltation  of  authority ;  the  dis- 
tinguishing feature  of  the  other  is  the  exaltation  of  intellect. 
By  the  one  class  of  theologians,  implicit,  almost  unquestion- 


TWO   OPPOSITE  DANGERS.  1 99 

ing  obedience  is  claimed  on  behalf  of  the  Church,  on  the 
ground  of  her  Divine  original ;  her  Ministry  derived  by  an 
unbroken  series  of  links  from  the  Apostles  themselves  ;  her 
right  of  administering  the  Sacraments,  her  traditions,  her 
guardianship  of  Holy  Writ ;  her  office  both  to  keep  and  to 
expound  the  mysteries  of  Divine  truth.  By  the  other  class 
of  theologians,  this  claim  on  the  ground  of  exclusive 
authority  is,  to  a  great  extent,  if  not  altogether,  set  aside. 
Truth  is  to  be  tested  by  the  powers  of  human  reason. 
Revelation  itself  must  submit  to  the  same  searching  pro- 
cess of  investigation  as  that  by  which  the  facts  of  profane 
history  or  of  science  are  weighed  and  determined.  Con- 
science is  elevated  to  a  position  of  pre-eminence  over  the 
revealed  Word  of  God,  and  a  claim  is  set  up  on  the  part 
of  man  himself  to  the  possession  of  a  verifying  faculty,  by 
the  exercise  of  which  he  may  determine  what  is  to  be 
accepted  and  what  rejected,  even  in  the  volume  of  Revela- 
tion itself. 

How  far  it  may  be  the  case  that  secret  affinities  exist 
between  these  two  apparently  antagonistic  schools  of 
theology  is  a  question  by  no  means  devoid  of  interest. 
It  might  not  be  difficult  to  show  that  the  natural  con- 
sequence of  claiming  more  than  is  due  on  the  side  of 
authority  is  to  provoke  resistance  to  every  species  of 
control.  Unnatural  restraint  almost  inevitably  leads  to 
unbridled  licence.  It  is  therefore  more  than  possible  that, 
with  all  their  palpable  divergencies,  the  two  schools  of 
theology  to  which  I  have  referred  have  this  relation  to 
each  other.  The  extravagant  claim  on  the  footing  of 
authority  which  has  been  set  up  by  ithe  one  has  prepared 
the  way  for  the  extravagant  exaltation  of  reason,  as 
independent  of  authority,  by  the  other. 

But  in  each  case  the  real  root  of  the  evil  is  to  be  found 
in  the  want  of  due  reverence  for  the  supreme  authority 
of  Scripture  as  a  Divine  revelation.  In  each  case,  singu- 
larly enough,  the  practical  result  is  the  same  as  regards 
the  dishonour  which  is  done  to  the  Word  of  God.  The 
disciples  of  the  one  school  maintain  that  we  are  indebted 


200      LIFE   OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

to  the  Church  for  the  possession  of  the  Scriptures,  and 
that,  independent  of  her  teaching,  we  are  not  at  liberty  to 
interpret  their  meaning.  The  disciples  of  the  other  school 
maintain  that,  owing  to  the  extraordinary  advance  of 
historical,  geographical,  or  scientific  research,  the  progress 
of  human  intellect,  and  the  freer  range  of  thought,  the 
time  has  arrived  when  the  facts  and  even  the  doctrines  of 
the  Bible  must  be  submitted  to  methods  of  trial  and 
investigation  similar  to  those  which  are  applied  to  verify 
the  conclusions  of  the  historian  or  philosopher.  Thus,  in 
either  case,  the  fundamental  truth  of  the  supreme  authority 
of  Revelation  is  practically  obscured  or  denied,  and  we 
are  in  peril  of  being  drifted  into  superstition  on  the  one 
hand,  or  swallowed  up  in  the  vortex  of  infidelity  on  the 
other. 

In  1867  my  father  writes  :— 

When  I  addressed  you  at  my  last  Visitation,  the 
necessity  was  laid  upon  me  to  warn  you  against  the 
dangers  to  which  we  were  exposed  from  the  attempt  to 
shake  our  confidence  in  the  veracity  of  God's  Word.  To- 
day, it  is  my  no  less  solemn  duty  to  lift  up  a  voice  of 
warning  against  a  tide  of  error,  which  threatens  to  destroy 
the  heritage  of  truth,  which  our  forefathers  recovered  by 
the  battle  of  the  Reformation.  ...  If  I  use  great  plainness 
of  speech,  it  is,  nevertheless,  my  desire  to  fulfil  the  Apostolic 
injunction,  ' AArj&uovrec  $e  iv  aycnrrj. 

It  is  always  painful  to  have  to  speak  in  terms  of  censure 
of  any  of  our  brethren  ;  but  the  interests  of  truth  are 
paramount  to  every  other  consideration ;  nor  should  it  be 
forgotten  that  personal  piety  and  zeal  do  not  afford  a 
criterion  by  which  to  determine  that  a  man  is  sound  in  the 
Faith.  Amongst  the  disseminators  of  error  have  often  been 
found  men  of  a  blameless  life,  of  untiring  energy,  and  of 
intense  religious  feeling.  Whilst,  then,  we  admit  the  zeal 
and  devotedness  which  characterises  many  of  those  who 
have  taken  a  prominent  part  in  controversies  which  now 


RITUALISM.  201 


agitate  the  Church,  we  cannot  allow  their  personal  ex- 
cellence to  blind  our  eyes  to  the  pernicious  character  of  the 
agitation  with  which  they  have  become  identified. 

Foremost  amongst  these  matters  of  controversy  to 
which  I  allude  is  the  so-called  question  of  Ritualism.  We 
all  admit  that  ritual  is  an  essential  feature  of  public 
worship.  It  was  prescribed  under  the  ancient  dispensa- 
tion by  God  Himself;  and  although  the  Jewish  ritual 
together  with  the  whole  ceremonial  system,  of  which  it 
was  a  part,  has  been  abolished,  yet  it  must  be  clear  to 
any  one  who  reflects  on  the  subject,  that  an  established 
religion  can  scarcely  exist  without  an  appointed  ritual. 
Far  be  it  from  me,  then,  to  disparage  the  importance  of  a 
due  regard  to  rites  and  ceremonies,  which,  although  they 
have  been  devised  by  man,  are  still  reserved,  according  to 
the  statement  in  our  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  l<  as  well 
for  a  decent  order  in  the  Church,  (for  the  which  they  were  at 
first  devised)  as  because  they  pertain  to  edification,  where- 
unto  all  things  done  in  the  Church  (as  the  Apostle  teacheth) 
ought  to  be  referred." 

Within  the  last  few  years,  however,  we  have  witnessed 
a  movement  in  favour  of  ritualistic  observances  which  has 
taken  the  country  by  surprise,  led  to  much  controversy, 
and  aroused  both  the  indignation  and  alarm  of  many  of 
the  best  friends  of  the  Church.  Whether  or  not  this  move- 
ment is  only  the  natural  development  of  principles  which 
have  for  many  years  past  been  industriously  propagated  by 
an  active  party  within  the  Church,  it  is  beyond  dispute 
that  it  involves  a  strange  innovation  upon  the  established 
usage  of  the  past  three  hundred  years.  The  promoters  of 
it  claim  to  have  discovered  that  the  legal  vestments  to  be 
worn  by  the  officiating  minister  in  the  Celebration  of  the 
Holy  Communion  are  such  as,  to  say  the  least,  have  been 
in  disuse  if  not  altogether  unknown  to  the  Church  from  the 
time  of  the  Reformation.  Not  only  this  ;  changes  have 
been  introduced  in  the  internal  arrangement  of  churches, 
and  in  the  mode  of  conducting  Divine  Service,  which  con- 
vey to  all  ordinary  observers  the  appearance  of  a  close 


202      LIFE   OF  BISHOP   ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

and  studied  assimilation  of  the  ritual  of  our  Church  to  that 
of  the  Church  of  Rome.  The  costly  and  elaborate  decora- 
tion of  the  Communion-table  ;  the  blaze  of  candles  in  broad 
daylight  when  the  Holy  Communion  is  celebrated  ;  the 
practice  of  mixing  water  with  the  wine  in  the  Lord's 
Supper  ;  the  elevation  of  the  Elements  in  the  act  of  Conse- 
cration, and  the  various  postures  assumed  by  the  officiating 
minister, — are  amongst  the  innovations,  the  introduction  of 
which  in  some  churches  have  shocked  the  minds  of  many 
who  love  and  reverence  the  Church  of  England  as  a  pure 
and  reformed  branch  of  Christ's  Holy  Catholic  Church,  and 
are  not  willing  to  see  her  simple  ritual  exchanged  for  the 
imposing  ceremonial  of  the  Church  of  Rome.  As  regards 
some  of  these  innovations  there  is  confessedly  a  degree  of 
ambiguity  in  the  law.  It  may  or  may  not  be  true  that  the 
adoption  of  these  obsolete  vestments  is  legally  permissible. 
Opposite  opinions  on  this  point  have  been  given  by  lawyers 
of  great  eminence  and  learning.  At  the  same  time,  I  think 
it  should  occur  to  those  who  are  eager  to  introduce  innova- 
tions of  this  kind  that  it  must  tend  to  the  entire  subversion 
of  due  order  and  discipline  if  individual  clergymen,  acting 
on  their  own  judgment,  may  exercise  the  liberty  to  disturb 
the  uniformity  which  the  custom  of  three  centuries  has 
established.  Such  persons  might  do  well  to  consider  the 
forcible  words  in  our  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  "  Although 
the  keeping  or  omitting  of  a  Ceremony,  in  itself  considered, 
is  but  a  small  thing  ;  yet  the  wilful  and  contemptuous  trans- 
gression and  breaking  of  a  common  order  and  discipline  is 
no  small  offence  before  God.  Let  all  things  be  done  among 
you,  saith  St.  Paul,  in  a  seemly  and  due  order  :  The  appoint- 
ment of  the  which  order  pertaineth  not  to  private  men  ; 
therefore  no  man  ought  to  take  in  hand,  nor  presume  to 
appoint  or  alter  any  publick  or  common  order  in  Christ's 
Church,  except  he  be  lawfully  called  and  authorized 
thereunto." 

Now,  the  adoption  of  these  novel  vestments  has  received 
almost  every  kind  of  censure  short  of  a  direct  judicial  con- 
demnation. It  stands  condemned  by  the  custom  of  three 


DOCTRINAL   SIGNIFICANCE.  203 

hundred  years ;  by  the  almost  unanimous  voice  of  the 
rulers  of  the  Church ;  by  the  Convocations  of  both  Pro- 
vinces ;  and,  lastly,  a  Royal  Commission,  appointed  to  make 
inquiry  concerning  this  and  other  matters,  has  reported, 
"  that  it  is  expedient  to  restrain  in  the  public  services  of 
the  United  Church  of  England  and  Ireland,  all  variations 
in  respect  of  vesture  from  that  which  has  long  been  the 
established  usage  of  the  said  United  Church."  It  remains 
to  be  seen  how  far  this  Report  from  a  Commission  so  con- 
stituted as  to  afford  the  most  ample  opportunity  to  the 
Ritualists  for  the  full  exposition  of  their  opinions,  will  have 
any  weight  with  those  of  whom  it  is  no  breach  of  charity 
to  say  they  have  manifested  hitherto  very  little  disposition 
to  defer  to  advice  or  counsel  from  those  in  authority. 

But  it  is  transparent  to  every  one  that  the  real  import- 
ance of  this  Ritualistic  movement  is  not  to  be  measured  by 
what  only  meets  the  eye.  The  colour  and  shape  of  a  vest- 
ment may  be  in  itself  utterly  insignificant.  But  if  the 
vestment  be  made  a  symbol  of  a  particular  set  of  doctrines 
or  opinions,  then  it  is  no  longer  a  trivial  matter.  It  is  this 
which  renders  the  whole  question  now  under  consideration 
one  of  such  serious  moment.  There  can  no  longer  be  any 
doubt  that  the  revived  Ritualism  of  the  present  day  is 
meant  to  be  the  exponent  of  certain  doctrines  which  its 
advocates  are  eager  to  restore  to  the  Church  of  England. 
We  are  not  left  to  infer  this  merely  from  manuals  of  devo- 
tion, hymns,  and  a  host  of  other  publications  which  have 
streamed  from  the  press  under  the  sanction  of  names  which 
are  identified  with  the  movement,  but  with  singular  open- 
ness and  candour  the  fact  has  been  again  and  again 
avowed.  Thus,  "  Ritual,"  we  are  told,  "  is  the  expression 
of  doctrine  and  a  witness  to  the  Sacramental  system  of  the 
Catholic  religion."  *  Again,  "  The  whole  purpose  of  this 
great  revival,"  it  is  affirmed,  "  has  been  to  eliminate  the 
dreary  Protestantism  of  the  Hanoverian  period  and  restore 
the  glory  of  Catholic  worship.  The  churches  are  restored 
after  the  mediaeval  pattern,  and  our  Ritual  must  accord 

1  "  Directorium  Anglicanum." 


204      LIFE    OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

with  the  Catholic  standard."  l  And  in  language  still  more 
bold  and  explicit,  another  organ  of  the  Ritualistic  party 
writes  thus  : — "  There  is  no  attempt  to  disguise  the  fact 
that  the  Eucharistic  Vestments  are  adopted  as  significant 
of  the  Sacrifice  of  the  Mass,  and  the  Church  Times  justly 
regards  them  in  this  light."2  Nothing  could  be  further 
from  my  wish  than  to  misrepresent  in  the  smallest  particu- 
lar the  character  of  this  movement.  I  am  willing  to  hope 
and  believe  that  many  have  been  drawn  in  by  the  current 
who  are  little  aware  of  its  dangerous  direction  ;  but  I  doubt 
if  any  one  can  attentively  examine  the  subject  and  deny 
that  the  questions  at  issue  in  this  whole  Ritualistic  revival 
are  questions  of  doctrine,  and  not  of  mere  dress  or  cere- 
monial. 

Nor  can  there  be  any  real  difficulty  in  determining 
what  these  questions  are.  One  point  is  self-evident :  that 
in  some  way  or  other  they  all  centre  in  the  Holy  Com- 
munion. "  The  fact/'  as  it  has  been  justly  observed,  "  which 
presents  itself  most  obviously  on  the  face  of  the  whole 
matter  is  the  change  which  has  been  made  in  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  Lord's  Supper ;  the  Communion  Service  of 
the  Prayer-book  is  set,  as  it  were,  in  the  frame  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  ceremonial,  with  all  the  accompaniments 
of  the  high  and  chanted  Mass — vestments,  lights,  incense, 
posture,  and  gestures  of  the  officiating  clergy.  It  is  inter- 
polated with  corresponding  hymns,  and  supplemented  by 
private  prayers  translated  from  the  Roman  Missal."3  It 
is  abundantly  clear  that  the  doctrines  which  it  is  the  design 
of  this  Ritualistic  movement  to  assert,  relate  to  the  nature 
of  our  Lord's  Presence  in  the  Holy  Communion  and  to  the 
sacrificial  aspect  of  this  sacred  ordinance. 

It  therefore  becomes  of  the  utmost  importance  to 
ascertain  how  far  the  plain  and  obvious  teaching  of  the 
Church  of  England  is  in  favour  of  or  against  the  doctrine 
of  the  "  Real  Presence,"  and  of  the  sacrificial  nature  of  the 

1  "The  Church  and  the  World." 

2  Leader  in  the  Church  Times,  June  I,  1867. 

3  Charge,  by  the  Bishop  of  St.  David's,  1866. 


THE  REAL   PRESENCE.  205 

Lord's  Supper,  as  these  doctrines  are  maintained  by  the 
advocates  of  modern  Ritualism.  In  the  present  controversy 
all  turns  upon  this  point.  It  is  the  bounden  duty  of  the 
clergy  to  examine  how  far  the  doctrines  in  question  can  or 
cannot  be  maintained  consistently  with  the  loyalty  we  owe 
to  the  Church  of  England. 

Now,  the  ultimate  standard  of  appeal  in  all  matters  of 
faith  is,  according  to  our  Sixth  Article,  "  Holy  Scripture." 
"  Whatsoever  is  not  read  therein,  nor  may  be  proved  thereby, 
is  not  to  be  required  of  any  man,  that  it  should  be  believed 
as  an  Article  of  the  Faith,  or  be  thought  requisite  or  necessary 
to  salvation."  At  the  same  time  the  standard  of  doctrine, 
which  our  Church  holds  and  teaches,  is  to  be  found  in  the 
Thirty-nine  Articles  and  in  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer. 
It  is  assumed  that  both  the  Articles  and  the  Liturgy  are 
agreeable  to  God's  Word.  The  clergy  are  bound  by  the 
standard  which  they  exhibit.  They  are  not  at  liberty  to 
teach  otherwise.  I  have  yet  to  learn  how  a  clergyman 
can  with  a  clear  conscience  retain  office  in  the  Church  of 
England  unless  he  fully  holds  and  maintains  the  doctrine 
which  is  plainly  taught  in  the  Liturgy  and  the  Articles  of 
the  Church.  Hence  the  inquiry,  which  is  forced  upon  us 
by  the  present  aspect  of  the  Ritualist  question,  is  simply 
this :  What  is  the  teaching  of  the  Church  of  England  as 
contained  in  the  Articles  and  in  the  Book  of  Common 
Prayer  concerning  the  nature  of  our  Lord's  Presence  in  the 
Holy  Communion  ?  Does  that  teaching  support  or  con- 
tradict the  views  of  those  who  maintain  the  Real  Presence 
in  the  Sacramental  Elements  and  the  sacrificial  nature  of 
the  Holy  Eucharist? 

Now,  it  is  not  unimportant  to  remark  that  the  term 
"  Real  Presence  "  does  not  once  occur  in  the  Prayer-book. 
There  is  a  sense,  no  doubt,  in  which  our  Church  maintains 
that  Christ  is  really  present  with  His  faithful  disciples  in 
the  Holy  Communion.  It  is  a  most  precious  truth,  and 
full  of  comfort  to  every  true  Christian,  that  our  Blessed 
Lord,  seated  though  He  is  at  the  right  hand  of  the  Majesty 
in  the  heavens,  is  present  in  that  sacred  ordinance,  through 


206      LIFE    OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

the  operation  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in  the  heart  of  every  faith- 
ful communicant.  And  the  teaching  of  our  Church  is  most 
explicit  against  the  notion  that  the  Sacraments  are  merely 
bare  signs,  and  in  no  sense  means  of  grace,  for  the  Twenty- 
fifth  Article  affirms,  "  The  Sacraments  ordained  of  Christ 
be  not  only  badges  or  tokens  of  Christian  men's  profession, 
but  rather  they  be  certain  sure  witnesses,  and  effectual  signs 
of  grace,  and  God's  good  will  towards  us,  by  the  which  He 
doth  work  invisibly  in  us,  and  doth  not  only  quicken  but 
also  strengthen  and  confirm  our  Faith  in  Him." 

But  this  is  an  essentially  different  doctrine  from  that 
which  affirms  that  Christ  is  present  in  or  with  the  Sacra- 
mental Elements  themselves  by  virtue  of  the  act  of  Con- 
secration, and  more  particularly  if  this  view  of  the  matter 
is  pushed  to  its  necessary  consequence,  that  every  com- 
municant who  partakes  of  the  Sacramental  Elements  is  a 
partaker  of  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ.  For  this  latter 
doctrine  of  the  "  Real  Presence,"  whatever  support  it  may 
be  supposed  to  obtain  in  the  writings  of  the  Fathers,  I  can 
find  no  support  in  the  Articles  or  the  Liturgy ;  but,  on  the 
contrary,  I  do  find  in  those  formularies  statements  which 
are  clearly  inconsistent  with  the  maintenance  of  it. 

Thus  in  the  first  exhortation  appointed  to  be  read  at 
the  time  of  the  celebration  of  the  Holy  Communion,  we 
have  this  hypothetical  form  of  expression,  "  For  as  the 
benefit  is  great,  IF  with  a  true  penitent  heart  and  lively  faith 
we  receive  that  holy  Sacrament ;  for  THEN  we  spiritually 
eat  the  Flesh  of  Christ,  and  drink  His  Blood."  According 
to  this  language  the  reception  of  the  Body  and  Blood  of 
Christ  is  evidently  contingent  on  the  possession  of  repent- 
ance and  faith,  and  it  is  a  spiritual  participation  to  which 
reference  is  made.  Surely  this  is  inconsistent  with  the 
idea  of  a  "  Real  Presence  "  in  or  with  the  Elements  them- 
selves. 

Again :  in  the  prayer  of  Consecration  we  have  this 
petition,  "  Grant  that  we  receiving  these  Thy  creatures  of 
bread  and  wine,  according  to  thy  Son  our  Saviour  Jesus 
Christ's  holy  institution,  in  remembrance  of  His  Death  and 


EVIDENCE    OF  THE  LITURGY.  207 

Passion,  may  be  partakers  of  His  most  Blessed  Body  and 
Blood."  No  words  could  more  distinctly  imply  the  possi- 
bility of  partaking  of  the  Consecrated  Elements  without 
necessarily  partaking  of  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ ;  yet 
how  could  this  be  the  case  if  by  virtue  of  the  act  of  Conse- 
cration Christ  becomes  present  in  or  with  the  Sacramental 
Elements  ? 

The  form  of  words  which  the  minister  is  directed  to  use 
in  delivering  the  Consecrated  Elements  is  also  very  signifi- 
cant:  "  The  Body  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  which  was  given 
for  thee,  preserve  thy  body  and  soul  unto  everlasting  life. 
Take  and  eat  this  in  remembrance  that  Christ  died  for  thee, 
and  feed  on  Him  in  thy  heart  by  faith  with  thanksgiving." 
The  first  clause  directs  our  thoughts  to  the  Body  which 
was  given,  to  the  Sacrifice  which  was  presented  once  for 
all  on  Calvary.  The  second  clause  directs  our  thoughts 
to  the  Sacramental  sign,  and  bids  us  take  and  eat  this  in 
remembrance  that  Christ  died.  Memory  relates  not  to 
what  is  present,  but  to  what  is  absent ;  the  bread  is  to  be 
eaten  in  remembrance,  and  we  are  bidden  to  feed  on  Christ, 
not  with  the  mouth,  but  in  the  heart,  by  faith  with  thanks- 
giving. 

Again :  what  can  be  more  explicit  than  the  statement 
which  occurs  in  the  rubric  at  the  end  of  the  service  for  the 
Holy  Communion  ?  "  The  Sacramental  Bread  and  Wine 
remain  still  in  their  very  natural  substances,  and  therefore 
may  not  be  adored  ;  (for  that  were  Idolatry,  to  be  abhorred 
of  all  faithful  Christians  ;)  and  the  natural  Body  and  Blood 
of  our  Saviour  Christ  are  in  Heaven,  and  NOT  HERE ;  it 
being  against  the  truth  of  Christ's  natural  Body  to  be  at 
one  time  in  more  places  than  one."  It  is  wholly  irrecon- 
cilable with  this  plain  statement  to  maintain  that  the  Body 
of  Christ  is  so  present  in  the  Sacramental  Elements,  that  It 
may  be  eaten  by  the  mouth  of  the  communicant. 

On  the  other  hand,  our  Church  distinctly  holds  that 
there  may  be  a  reception  of  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ 
without  any  participation  whatever  of  the  Sacramental 
Elements  ;  for  in  the  rubric  at  the  end  of  the  office  for  the 


208      LIFE    OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

Communion  of  the  Sick,  the  words  are  as  follow :  "  But  if 
a  man,  either  by  reason  of  extremity  of  sickness,  or  for 
want  of  warning  in  due  time  to  the  Curate,  or  for  lack  of 
company  to  receive  with  him,  or  by  any  other  just  impedi- 
ment, do  not  receive  the  Sacrament  of  Christ's  Body  and 
Blood,  the  Curate  shall  instruct  him,  that  if  he  truly  repent 
him  of  his  sins,  and  stedfastly  believe  that  Jesus  Christ 
hath  suffered  death  upon  the  Cross  for  him,  and  shed  His 
Blood  for  his  redemption,  earnestly  remembering  the  bene- 
fits he  hath  thereby,  and  giving  Him  hearty  thanks  there- 
fore, he  doth  eat  and  drink  the  Body  and  Blood  of  our 
Saviour  Christ  profitably  to  his  soul's  health,  although  he 
do  not  receive  the  Sacrament  with  his  mouth." 

The  doctrine  of  the  "  Real  Presence  "  in  the  Sacramental 
Elements  is  inconsistent  with  the  definition  of  a  Sacrament 
as  given  in  the  Catechism.  A  Sacrament  is  there  defined 
to  be  "an  outward  and  visible  sign  of  an  inward  and 
spiritual  grace  given  unto  us,  ordained  by  Christ  Himself,  as 
a  means  whereby  we  receive  the  same,  and  a  pledge  to 
assure  us  thereof."  Now  the  word  "  Sacrament,"  as  applied 
to  the  elements  in  the  Lord's  Supper,  can  only  refer  to  the 
Consecrated  Elements.  The  bread  and  wine  are  clearly  not 
Sacramental  till  after  Consecration.  According,  then,  to  the 
definition  given  in  the  Catechism  these  Consecrated  Ele- 
ments are  "  an  outward  and  visible  sign."  If,  however,  the 
Body  and  Blood  of  Christ  are  in  or  with  the  Elements  on 
the  Holy  Table,  the  sign  ceases  to  be  a  sign  through  being 
changed  into  the  thing  signified,  and  thus  the  nature  of  the 
Sacrament  is  overthrown. 

The  Catechism  again  distinctly  teaches  that  it  is  the 
faithful  by  whom  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ  are  verily 
and  indeed  taken  and  received,  not  according  to  the  words 
there  employed,  "  in  the  Sacramental  Elements,"  but  "  in 
the  Lord's  Supper." 

From  the  Liturgy  and  the  Catechism  I  turn  to  the 
Articles.  The  Twenty-eighth  Article  states,  "The  Body 
of  Christ  is  given,  taken,  and  eaten,  in  the  Supper,  only 
after  an  heavenly  and  spiritual  manner.  And  the  means 


ARTICLES   AND  HOMILIES.  2OQ 

whereby  the  Body  of  Christ  is  received  and  eaten  in  the 
Supper  is  faith."  Again  :  the  Twenty-ninth  Article  states, 
"  The  wicked,  and  such  as  be  void  of  a  lively  faith,  although 
they  do  carnally  and  visibly  press  with  their  teeth  (as  Saint 
Augustine  saith)  the  Sacrament  of  the  Body  and  Blood  of 
Christ,  yet  in  no  wise  are  they  partakers  of  Christ :  but 
rather,  to  their  condemnation,  do  eat  and  drink  the  sign  or 
Sacrament  of  so  great  a  thing."  If  language  has  any  mean- 
ing, surely  these  Articles  plainly  declare  that  it  is  by  faith 
only,  and  spiritually,  we  can  feed  on  Christ  in  the  Eucharist, 
and  that  the  wicked  are  not  partakers  in  any  sense  of  Christ 
in  the  Lord's  Supper,  even  though  they  do  eat  and  drink 
the  Sacramental  Elements. 

If  we  turn  to  the  Homilies,  we  find  statements  to  the 
same  effect.  In  the  first  part  of  the  "  Homily  of  the  worthy 
receiving  and  reverent  esteeming  of  the  Sacrament  of  the 
Body  and  Blood  of  Christ,"  the  following  passage  occurs  : — 
"  It  is  well  known  that  the  meat  we  seek  for  in  this  Supper 
is  spiritual  food,  the  nourishment  of  our  soul ;  a  heavenly 
refection  and  not  earthly  ;  an  invisible  meat  and  not  bodily  ; 
a  ghostly  substance  and  not  carnal ;  so  that  to  think  with- 
out faith  we  may  enjoy  the  eating  and  drinking  thereof,  or 
that  that  is  the  fruition  thereof,  is  but  to  dream  a  gross 
carnal  feeding,  basely  objecting,  and  binding  ourselves  to 
the  elements  and  creatures ;  whereas,  by  the  Council  of 
Nicene,  we  ought  to  lift  up  our  minds  by  faith,  and,  leaving 
these  inferior  and  earthly  things,  there  seek  it  where  the 
Sun  of  Righteousness  ever  shineth.  Take  then  this  lesson, 
O  thou  that  art  desirous  of  this  table,  of  Emissenus,  a 
godly  father,  that  when  thou  goest  up  to  the  reverend 
Communion  to  be  satisfied  with  spiritual  meats,  thou  look 
up  with  faith  to  the  Holy  Body  and  Blood  of  thy  God,  thou 
marvel  with  reverence,  thou  touch  It  with  the  mind,  thou 
receive  It  with  the  hand  of  thy  heart,  and  thou  take  It  fully 
with  thy  inward  man." 

These  passages,  when  taken  in  their  plain  and  obvious 
meaning,  are  inconsistent  with  the  belief  of  the  "  Real 
Presence "  in  the  Sacramental  Elements ;  and  I  am  con- 

p 


210      LIFE    OF  BISHOP   ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

firmed  in  this  conclusion  when  I  call  to  mind  what  many 
of  our  greatest  Divines  have  written  on  this  subject.  At 
the  period  of  the  Reformation,  it  is  well  known  that  the 
great  controversy  with  the  Church  of  Rome  centred  in 
the  Sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper.  Many  in  the  noble 
army  of  martyrs,  who  loved  not  their  lives  unto  death, 
died  rather  than  admit  the  doctrine  that  the  Elements  are 
changed  in  the  Lord's  Supper,  by  the  act  of  Consecration, 
into  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ.  I  admit,  of  course,  the 
distinction  between  the  Romish  doctrine  of  Transubstanti- 
ation  and  the  doctrine  of  the  "  Real  Presence,"  as  main- 
tained by  some  who  still  remain  in  communion  with  the 
Church  of  England.  At  the  same  time  I  must  say  that 
the  terms  in  which  this  latter  doctrine  is  avowed  are  such 
as  to  render  it  extremely  difficult  for  ordinary  minds  to 
detect  wherein  it  differs  from  the  former.  Arguments 
against  the  one  apply  with  equal  force  against  the  other. 
The  same  terms  in  which  the  Reformers  of  the  sixteenth 
century  contended  against  the  Romish  error  might  be 
applied  against  the  doctrine  of  the  "  Real  Presence "  as 
asserted  by  some  at  the  present  day.  Thus,  Bishop  Ridley 
maintained  that  the  Body  of  Christ  is  "  communicated  and 
given,  not  to  the  bread  and  wine,  but  to  them  which 
worthily  do  receive  the  Sacrament ; "  and  when  Archbishop 
Cranmer  was  asked,  "  When  Christ  said,  '  Eat  ye/  whether 
meant  He  by  the  mouth  or  by  faith  ?  "  his  reply  was,  "  He 
meant  that  we  should  receive  the  Body  by  faith,  the  Bread 
by  the  mouth." 

Take,  again,  the  testimony  of  Richard  Hooker  : — "  The 
Real  Presence  of  Christ's  most  Blessed  Body  and  Blood  is 
not,  therefore,  to  be  sought  for  in  the  Sacrament,  but  in 
the  worthy  receiver  of  the  Sacrament.  And  with  this  the 
very  order  of  our  Saviour's  words  agreeth.  First,  '  Take, 
and  eat ; '  then,  '  This  is  my  Body  which  was  broken  for 
you.'  First,  '  Drink  ye  all  of  this  ; '  then  followeth,  '  This 
is  my  Blood  of  the  New  Testament,  which  is  shed  for  many 
for  the  remission  of  sins.'  I  see  not  which  way  it  should 
be  gathered  from  the  words  of  Christ  when  and  where  the 


BISHOP  JEREMY   TAYLOR.  211 

bread  is  His  Body  or  the  cup  His  Blood,  but  only  in  the 
very  heart  and  soul  of  him  which  receiveth  them." 

Bishop  Jeremy  Taylor  writes  : — "  By  '  spiritually '  they 
(i.e.,  the  Romanists)  mean  present  after  the  manner  of  a 
spirit ;  by  spiritually  we  mean  'present  to  our  spirits  only;' 
id.,  so  as  Christ  is  not  present  to  any  other  sense  but  that 
of  faith,  or  spiritual  susception  ;  but  their  way  makes  His 
Body  to  be  present  no  way  but  that  which  is  impossible 
and  implies  a  contradiction  ;  a  body  not  after  the  manner 
of  a  body,  a  body  like  a  spirit ;  a  body  without  a  body ; 
and  a  sacrifice  of  body  and  blood  without  blood,  corpus 
incorporeum,  cruor  incruentus.  They  say  that  Christ's  Body 
is  truly  present  there  as  it  was  upon  the  Cross,  but  not  after 
the  manner  of  all  or  any  body,  but  after  that  manner  of 
being  as  an  Angel  is  in  a  place ;  that's  their  '  spiritually  ; ' 
but  we,  by  the  '  real  spiritual  presence '  of  Christ,  do  under- 
stand Christ  to  be  present  as  the  Spirit  of  God  is  present 
in  the  hearts  of  the  faithful,  by  blessing  and  grace,  and 
THIS  IS  ALL  WHICH  WE  MEAN  BESIDES  THE  TROPICAL 
AND  FIGURATIVE  PRESENCE." 

To  my  own  mind  the  conclusion  is  evident,  whether 
you  examine  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer  or  testimony 
such  as  that  which  I  have  quoted  from  the  writings  of  men 
who,  by  the  depth  of  their  learning,  and  the  fervour  of  their 
piety,  shed  lustre  on  the  age  in  which  they  lived,  and  on 
the  Church  to  which  they  belonged,  that  if  we  are  to 
understand  by  the  Doctrine  of  the  Real  Presence  that 
Christ  is  in  any  sense  bodily  present,  by  virtue  of  the  act 
of  Consecration,  in  or  with  the  Sacramental  Elements,  this 
is  a  doctrine  which  is  not  maintained  in  the  Articles  or  the 
formularies  of  the  Church  of  England,  nor  can  it  be  held 
consistently  with  those  standards  of  belief. 

The  Bishops  are  often  rebuked  for  trying  to 
enforce  the  law  in  the  case  of  those  who  err  by 
excess,  while  they  leave  without  rebuke  those  who 


212      LIFE    OF  BISHOP   ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

err  by  defect ;  and  it  is  sometimes  said  that  they  do 
not  themselves  show  an  example  of  obedience. 

My  father  was  anxious  to  leave  no  room  for  such 
a  charge.  The  celebrated  Purchas  Judgment  called 
attention  to  the  Twenty-fourth  Canon,  which  runs  as 
follows  : — 

In  all  Cathedral  and  Collegiate  Churches  the  Holy 
Communion  shall  be  administered  upon  principal  feast- 
days,  sometimes  by  the  Bishop  if  he  be  present,  and  some- 
times by  the  Dean,  and  at  sometime  by  a  Canon  or  Pre- 
bendary, the  Principal  Minister  using  a  decent  Cope,  and 
being  assisted  with  the  Gospeller  and  Epistler  agreeably 
according  to  the  Advertisements  published  Anno  7  Eliz. 

My  father  felt  it  his  duty  to  obey  this  judgment 
in  his  Cathedral,  and  secured  the  concurrence  of 
Dean  McNeile.  The  writer  well  remembers  the 
first  Christmas  Day  when  the  Bishop  and  Dean 
both  appeared  in  the  Minster,  arrayed  in  purple 
copes.  The  Bishop  was  the  Celebrant,  and  the 
Dean  was  the  preacher.  The  latter  prefaced  his 
sermon  with  words  to  this  effect  : — 

Good  people,  you  will  be  surprised  to  see  your  Bishop 
and  myself  arrayed  in  these  unwonted  vestments,  but  we 
have  been  reminded  that  it  is  our  duty  to  wear  them,  and 
we  wish  to  set  an  example  of  obedience  to  the  law. 

The  people  of  Ripon  were  not  likely  to  accuse 
either  Bishop  or  Dean  of  a  newborn  love  of  eccle- 
siastical millinery,  but  his  ready  compliance  with  the 
law  as  then  interpreted  certainly  strengthened  my 
father's  hands  in  appealing  to  the  clergy  to  accept 
the  decision  of  the  court.  My  father  continued  to  wear 
the  cope  on  all  great  festivals,  when  he  took  part  in 
the  Celebration  of  the  Holy  Communion  at  Ripon  ; 


THE   COPE  AT  RIP&N. 


and  I  believe  three  or  four  other  bishops,  including 
the  late  Dr.  Jackson,  of  London,  adopted  the  same 
use.  It  will  be  remembered  that  Bishop  Eraser, 
when  challenged  to  do  the  same,  endeavoured  to 
show  that  the  cope  was  represented  by  the  "chimere" 
which  forms  a  part  of  the  usual  episcopal  robes. 
This  is  a  question  for  experts  in  ritual  on  which 
the  writer  is  not  prepared  to  express  an  opinion  ; 
but  the  Bishop's  attitude  in  the  matter  showed  a 
readiness  to  sacrifice  personal  feeling  and  a  deference 
to  authority  which  is  worth  recording,  for  it  was 
thoroughly  characteristic. 

In  several  cases,  when  "  aggrieved  parish- 
ioners "  complained  to  the  Bishop  of  changes  in  the 
accustomed  order  of  service,  he  was  very  successful 
in  acting  as  mediator  between  the  clergyman  and 
his  people.  He  asked  them  to  show  a  spirit  of 
mutual  forbearance,  and  often  the  clergy  showed 
their  gratitude  for  his  fatherly  admonitions  by  yield- 
ing to  his  request.  My  father  very  much  preferred 
to  settle  these  and  other  disputes  by  a  personal 
interview.  Of  these  interviews  of  course  no  record 
remains,  but  the  following  letter,  written  to  a  clergy- 
man in  the  diocese,  who  has  since  died,  illustrates 
the  way  in  which  he  treated  cases  of  the  sort.  It  is 
only  fair  to  say  that  the  particular  instance  was  one 
in  which  the  clergyman  had  introduced  some  of 
those  eccentricities  of  Ritualism  which  go  far  beyond 
what  is  now  practised  even  in  so-called  advanced 
churches.  The  church  was  attractive  to  sightseers 
collected  from  a  distance,  while  the  parishioners 
were  alienated  and  ordinary  parochial  work  was  at 
a  standstill : — 


214      LIFE   OF  BISHOP   ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

The  Palace,  Ripon,  January  19,  1876. 

My  dear  Sir, — I  am  sorry  to  find  from  your  own  account 
that  the  statement  which  I  forwarded  to  you  is  correct. 
I  had  hoped  that  you  would  have  followed  the  advice  which 
I  gave  you  a  few  months  since,  not  to  introduce  any  novel- 
ties into  the  mode  of  conducting  public  worship  in  your 
church,  without  consulting  me. 

I  should  be  the  last  to  desire  to  abridge  any  liberty 
which  the  law  allows  to  the  clergy,  but  I  think,  upon  calm 
reflection,  you  will  see  that  it  is  surely  not  right  for  indi- 
vidual clergymen  to  make  changes  of  this  kind  in  dress 
and  in  the  mode  of  celebrating  public  worship,  without  any 
regard  to  the  general  usage  of  the  Church,  or  to  the  judg- 
ment of  their  own  diocesan. 

It  may  be  to  some  extent  for  the  present  an  open 
question  how  far  the  vestments  which  you  have  adopted  are 
legal  or  otherwise.  It  is  certainly  not  clear  that  a  bishop 
has  power  to  forbid  their  use.  The  same  might  be  said 
of  a  variety  of  other  points  which  the  law  has  not  par- 
ticularised. But  it  is  an  ungenerous  use  to  make  of  the 
liberty  which  the  Church  allows  to  her  members,  to  adopt 
a  practice  which  is  clearly  foreign  to  the  spirit  of  our  Church 
system,  even  though  its  observance  may  not  be  expressly 
forbidden.  I  cannot  entirely  regard  these  innovations  of 
dress  as  merely  circumstantial  and  non-essential.  In  the 
eye  of  the  Church  at  large  they  are  almost  inseparably 
associated  with  tendencies  to  Romish  error  and  super- 
stition, and  I  do  not  believe  it  to  be  possible  for  you  or 
any  other  clergyman  who  makes  such  innovations  to  acquit 
himself  in  the  judgment  of  the  Church  at  large  of  an 
attempt  to  assimilate  our  own  forms  of  worship  to  those 
which  our  Reformers  repudiated.  But  even  if  these  matters 
were  altogether  non-essential,  should  not  this  constitute  a 
strong  reason  for  being  guided  by  the  authority  to  which, 
both  at  your  ordination  and  upon  subsequent  occasions, 
you  have  promised  to  yield  obedience  ?  In  the  present 
uncertainty  of  the  law,  I  have  no  power  to  prohibit  (so 


TOLERATION  AND   PEACE.  215 

far  as  I  am  at  present  advised)  your  wearing  the  unusual 
vestments,  but  I  feel  it  my  duty  to  tell  you  frankly  that 
the  wearing  of  them  by  any  clergyman  in  my  diocese  is 
contrary  to  my  wish,  and  can  only  be  done  in  defiance  of 
any  authority  which  I  might  exercise  to  prevent  it. 
I  am,  dear  sir, 

Very  faithfully  yours, 

R.  RiPON. 
The  Rev. . 

With  my  father's  well-known  views  on  the 
matter,  it  is  not  surprising  that  he  supported  the 
Public  Worship  Regulation  Act  of  1874,  for  which 
Archbishop  Tait  and  Lord  Beaconsfield  were  mainly 
responsible ;  but  he  was  quite  unprepared  for  the 
unfortunate  results  of  that  Act,  which  led  to  the 
imprisonment  of  hard-working  clergymen  who  re- 
fused to  recognise  its  authority.  He  was  utterly 
opposed  to  proceeding  to  such  violent  extremes, 
and  saw  clearly  enough  that  anything  which  looked 
like  religious  persecution  could  only  strengthen  the 
cause  of  those  who  were  attacked. 

In  quite  recent  years,  when  High  Churchmen 
were  indignant  at  the  continued  imprisonment  of 
the  Rev.  S.  F.  Green,  a  meeting  was  held  in  Leeds, 
at  which  an  appeal  was  made  to  moderate  men  to 
join  the  ranks  of  the  English  Church  Union  as  a 
protest  against  further  prosecutions.  The  Vicar  of 
Leeds,  Dr.  Gott,  whose  large-hearted  charity  has 
done  so  much  to  soften  the  bitterness  of  party  strife, 
reminded  the  meeting  that  they  had  the  best  possible 
guarantee  for  the  peace  of  the  diocese  of  Ripon, 
at  least,  in  the  rule  of  a  wise  and  tolerant  bishop. 

In  closing  a  chapter  in  which  I  have  quoted  so 


2l6      LIFE    OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

largely  from  his  Charges,  it  may  be  well  to  notice  my 
father's  practice  with  regard  to  his  Triennial  Visita- 
tions. At  first  he  followed  the  prevailing  custom  of 
delivering  the  written  Charge  at  the  various  centres. 
Finding,  however,  that  its  freshness  was  lost,  when 
those  whom  he  met  had  already  perused  the  sub- 
stance  of  it  in  the  columns  of  the  press,  he  adopted 
the  plan  of  delivering  the  Charge  once  for  all  at 
Ripon  or  Leeds.  He  then  utilised  the  time  left 
at  his  disposal  by  speaking  of  matters  more  es- 
pecially interesting  to  the  separate  localities.  One 
of  his  chaplains,  the  Rev.  Canon  Pulleine,  writes  :— 

I  remember  at  a  Visitation  at  Skipton  with  what  sym- 
pathy he  described  the  difficulties  and  trials  of  the  country 
clergy,  calling  forth  the  openly  expressed  gratitude  of 
more  than  one  for  his  helpful  words.  One  was  struck  by 
his  great  knowledge  of  the  details  of  his  diocese.  He 
knew  the  character  of  his  clergy  and  the  circumstances  of 
their  parishes. 

In  this  chapter  I  have  been  obliged  to  tread  on 
delicate  ground.  In  justice  to  my  father's  memory, 
I  could  not  set  aside  the  emphatic  expression  of  his 
views  on  subjects  about  which  his  clergy  were  not 
all  agreed  ;  but  I  gladly  close  with  a  quotation  from 
his  Charge  in  1873,  which  was  welcome  to  men  of  all 
shades  of  opinion  who  could  appreciate  the  burning 
words  of  one  who  longed  to  kindle  the  strongest 
sense  of  ministerial  responsibility  : — 

My  Reverend  Brethren,  by  the  tremendous  responsi- 
bilities of  your  sacred  office,  that  office  to  which  you  con- 
secrated all  your  powers  at  the  solemn  period  of  ordination  • 
by  the  eternal  issues  of  glory  or  of  shame  which  are 
suspended  upon  its  exercise ;  by  the  priceless  blessings 


DEVOTION  TO   MINISTERIAL    WORK.          21 7 

which  you  may  be  instrumental  to  convey  to  others,  and 
by  the  recompense  you  may  yourselves  inherit ;  by  that 
"greater  condemnation,"  which  is  the  doom  of  the  faithless 
Shepherd,  suffer  me  to  entreat  of  you  to  aim  more  and 
more  at  the  great  end  of  your  ministry,  even  the  salvation 
of  souls.  Every  other  object  is  insignificant  in  comparison 
with  this.  Short  of  this  result  the  main  purpose  of  your 
ministry  is  not  accomplished.  The  ministerial  reward  will 
not  be  gained.  Let  not  this  Visitation  pass  by,  without  a 
fresh  resolve,  that,  by  God's  grace,  we  will  be  more  than 
ever  devoted  to  our  sacred  calling.  TJie  influence  of  a 
deeper  spiritual  life  in  our  own  souls  would  make  itself  felt 
throughout  the  diocese  ;  we  should  be  more  earnest  for  the 
salvation  of  others  ;  we  should  be  more  united  amongst 
ourselves.  In  drawing  nearer  to  Christ,  the  true  Centre  of 
unity,  the  Fountain  of  all  life  and  blessing,  we  should  be 
insensibly  drawn  nearer  to  one  another,  and  realise  more 
of  that  blessed  and  holy  fellowship,  which  binds  together 
in  one  the  members  of  the  mystical  Body  of  which  He  is 
the  living  Head.  In  proportion  as  we  contemplate  more 
steadfastly  the  great  purpose  of  our  ministry,  and  fix  our 
attention  more  earnestly  on  the  swiftly-approaching  day 
when  each  of  us  will  be  called  to  give  in  his  account  of 
talents,  responsibilities,  opportunities,  of  souls  committed 
to  our  care,  we  shall  enter  into  the  mind  of  the  Apostle, 
when  he  exclaimed,  "  This  one  thing  I  do,  forgetting  those 
things  which  are  behind,  and  reaching  forth  unto  those 
things  which  are  before,  I  press  toward  the  mark  for  the 
prize  of  the  high  calling  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus."  May 
God  of  His  infinite  mercy  pour  down  upon  us  more 
abundantly  the  gifts  and  the  grace  of  His  Holy  Spirit. 
May  He  increase  amongst  us  true  religion — may  He 
nourish  us  with  all  goodness,  and  of  His  great  mercy  keep 
us  in  the  same  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.  Amen. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

DIOCESAN   WORK:   EDUCATION. 

Diocesan  work — Education — The  Training  College — Progress  of  ele- 
mentary education  in  the  diocese  before  1870 — Great  increase  of 
Church  schools — Diocesan  inspection  in  religious  knowledge — 
The  Bishop  deeply  thankful  for  Mr.  Forster's  Bill — Analysis  of  the 
Act — He  warmly  advocates  the  increased  efficiency  of  Church 
schools  and  the  importance  of  religious  teaching — Speech  at 
Huddersfield,  in  1879. 

SIDE  by  side  with  the  work  of  church  building  and 
restoration  went  forward  that  of  religious  education  ; 
and  in  connection  with  the  latter  it  is  right  to  men- 
tion the  erection  of  the  Training  College  for  mis- 
tresses at  Ripon. 

This  was  an  institution  in  which  my  father  took 
the  warmest  interest.  Up  to  the  year  1860  there 
had  been  a  department  for  females  in  connection 
with  the  Training  College  at  York,  but  the  institution 
was  not  in  a  good  condition,  and  it  was  thought 
advisable  that  the  two  departments  for  male  and 
female  students  should  be  kept  distinct. 

My  father  gave  the  College  a  hearty  welcome  to 
the  diocese,  and  amongst  his  earliest  public  appeals 
for  funds,  was  that  which  he  made  for  the  erection 
of  the  commodious  building  at  Ripon. 

The  Principal,  Canon  Badcock,  writes :— 


DIOCESAN  TRAINING   COLLEGE.  219 

It  was  mainly  through  his  influence  and  exertions  that 
the  Diocesan  Training  College  was  established  at  Ripon. 
On  February  i,  1860,  he  presided  over  a  public  meeting, 
and  forcibly  recommended  the  scheme  for  the  building  of 
the  College,  of  which  he  laid  the  foundation  stone  on 
December  4  of  the  same  year. 

From  that  time,  and  to  the  end  of  his  life,  his  interest 
in  the  Institution  never  flagged.  He  made  a  point  of  being 
present  at  the  meetings  of  the  committee  of  management. 
I  well  remember  how  frequently  he  used  to  come  to  the 
College  and  to  address  the  students  on  the  duties  and 
responsibilities  of  their  future  work.  Often  he  was  accom- 
panied by  friends  who  were  visiting  at  the  Palace,  and 
evidently  it  gave  him  pleasure  to  explain  to  them  the 
working  and  arrangements  of  the  Institution.  Sometimes 
he  sat  down  to  the  harmonium  and  practised  the  pupils  in 
singing  hymns  (in  preparation  for  the  Chapel  service  on 
Sunday  afternoons). 

He  was  conversant  with  all  details  of  the  work,  and 
annually,  until  he  was  prevented  by  illness,  he  even  took 
the  trouble  to  come  to  the  College  to  audit  the  accounts. 
It  was  an  immense  encouragement  to  the  governesses  and 
officers  of  the  Institution  to  know  that  the  eye  of  their 
good  Bishop  was  always  upon  them  ;  and  after  the  students 
had  left  the  College  they  still  felt  that  his  influence  and 
interest  extended  to  them.  He  often  mentioned  that  he 
had  in  the  course  of  his  travels  among  the  towns  and 
villages  of  Yorkshire,  met  with  schoolmistresses  who  had 
been  trained  at  the  College,  and  he  was  pleased  when  he 
found  them  faithfully  carrying  out  the  work  for  which  they 
had  been  educated. 

It  was  to  my  father  a  most  important  part  of  his 
episcopal  work  to  exercise  a  direct  control  over  the 
institution,  and  especially  to  have  the  opportunity  of 
preaching  to  the  students  afforded  by  their  attend- 
ance at  the  service  in  the  Palace.  It  has  already 


220      LIFE    OF  BISHOP   ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

been  mentioned  that  when  he  was  able  to  spend  a 
Sunday  at  Ripon,  my  father  always  attended  the 
cathedral  in  the  morning,  but  preached  at  the  after- 
noon service  in  his  private  chapel.  The  little 
building"  was  on  these  occasions  filled  to  overflowing 
with  a  somewhat  miscellaneous  congregation ;  but 
the  chief  interest  to  my  father  was  the  presence  of 
the  Training  College  students,  to  whom  he  spoke 
very  earnestly  of  the  immense  responsibility  of  the 
work  to  which  they  were  called. 

He  never  failed  to  remind  them  that,  next  to  that 
of  the  clergyman,  theirs  was  the  highest  calling  on 
earth,  for  all  education  worthy  of  the  name  was 
pregnant  with  results  that  only  eternity  can  reveal. 

As  no  attempt  is  being  made  to  give  a  strictly 
chronological  account  of  my  father's  work  at  Ripon, 
it  may  be  well  to  bring  together  here  his  views  on 
the  education  question  expressed  at  various  periods 
of  his  episcopate.  To  many  persons  of  a  younger 
generation,  and  from  the  tenour  of  not  a  few  political 
speeches,  the  impression  is  given  that  the  Education 
Act  of  1870  found  the  country  and  the  Church 
in  a  state  of  complete  apathy  on  this  important 
question.  That  this  was  not  the  case,  at  least  in  the 
diocese  of  Ripon,  is  manifest  from  the  way  in  which 
the  subject  constantly  recurs  in  my  father's  earlier 
Charges.  The  Church  was  certainly  grappling  with 
the  problem ;  and  though  no  one  can  say  that  the 
efforts  to  provide  elementary  education  were  ade- 
quate, yet  each  Triennial  Charge  speaks  of  continuous 
progress.  Thus  in  1858  there  were  57,180  day 
scholars  attending  Church  schools,  and  in  1864  the 
number  had  risen  to  no  less  than  74,412. 


ELEMENTARY  EDUCATION.  221 

In  1867  the  Bishop  records: — 

Your  returns  on  the  all-important  subject  of  education 
show  that  407  parishes  in  the  diocese  are  supplied  with 
elementary  day  schools  in  connection  with  the  Church. 
The  number  of  registered  scholars,  including  boys,  girls, 
and  infants,  is  78,434.  This  exhibits  an  increase  of  4022 
scholars  compared  with  the  numbers  in  1864.  .  .  . 

I  regret  to  find  that  there  are  twenty-three  separate 
parishes  in  which  there  is  not  any  elementary  school  over 
which  the  clergyman  exercises  control  or  supervision.  A 
large  proportion  of  these  are,  however,  newly  constituted 
parishes,  where  sufficient  time  has  not  yet  been  afforded  to 
establish  schools.  In  other  cases  the  defect  is  explained 
by  the  circumstance  that  it  is  found  convenient  to  let  one 
school  building  serve  for  two  small  contiguous  parishes. 
At  the  same  time,  the  ecclesiastical  organisation  of  a  parish 
is  incomplete  without  a  school,  in  addition  to  the  church 
and  parsonage.  There  is  no  function  of  our  sacred  office 
of  higher  importance  than  to  make  due  provision  for  the 
education  of  the  poor ;  and  I  would  strongly  recommend 
every  clergyman  who  is  in  charge  of  a  parish  not  to  rest 
content  without  a  good  elementary  school  for  the  benefit 
of  his  poorer  parishioners. 

That  only  twenty-three  parishes  out  of  407  were 
unprovided  with  schools  three  years  before  the 
passing  of  the  Act  of  1870,  is  a  sufficient  answer  to 
the  charge  that  the  Church  had  altogether  neglected 
elementary  education. 

In  the  same  year  my  father  commenced  a  system 
of  diocesan  inspection  to  promote  the  efficiency  of 
Church  schools.  He  writes  : — 

My  attention  has  been  directed  to  the  benefit  which 
might  be  derived  from  the  adoption  of  a  system  of  diocesan, 
in  addition  to  Government  inspection.  The  system  has 
been  tried  and  found  to  work  well  in  other  dioceses.  The 


222      LIFE    OF  BISHOP   ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

additional  stimulus  supplied  to  the  teacher,  the  advantage 
gained  by  the  scholars  through  being  subjected  more  fre- 
quently to  examination,  the  fuller  information  to  be  obtained 
as  to  the  actual  state  of  education  in  the  diocese,  are 
amongst  the  reasons  by  which  the  recommendation  to 
appoint  diocesan  inspectors  of  schools  has  been  urged.  To 
these  it  may  be  added  that  many  schools,  not  being  under 
Government  inspection,  never  undergo  any  examination ; 
while  in  other  schools,  which  are  subject  to  the  visits  of 
Her  Majesty's  inspector,  there  is  some  reason  to  fear  that, 
owing  to  the  operation  of  the  Revised  Code  in  making  the 
Government  grant  depend  mainly  upon  proficiency  in  secular 
subjects,  the  religious  element  does  not  receive  all  the  atten- 
tion which  it  ought.  In  such  cases,  the  visit  of  a  diocesan 
inspector,  one  of  whose  chief  duties  would  be  to  examine  the 
scholars  with  respect  to  their  knowledge  of  Scripture  facts 
and  doctrines,  would  supply  a  remedy  for  this  evil.  Influenced 
by  these  considerations,  and  aided  by  the  advice  of  the  arch- 
deacons and  rural  deans  of  the  diocese,  I  have  resolved 
to  provide  for  the  diocesan  inspection  of  elementary  schools. 
There  are  no  funds  out  of  which  to  provide  for  the  proper 
remuneration  for  an  inspector  for  the  whole  diocese,  whose 
time  should  be  exclusively  given  to  this  work.  Under  these 
circumstances,  the  plan  which  I  have  thought  best  to  adopt 
is  to  appoint  a  separate  inspector  to  each  rural  deanery. 
In  several  cases  the  rural  dean  has  kindly  undertaken  to 
inspect  the  schools  in  his  deanery ;  but  where,  from  the 
pressure  of  other  duties,  the  rural  dean  is  unable  to  dis- 
charge the  office,  it  will  be  filled  by  one  of  the  incumbents 
in  the  deanery.  Already  fourteen  rural  deaneries  are  pro- 
vided with  a  diocesan  inspector,  and  appointments  will 
speedily  be  made  in  the  remaining  deaneries,  which  are 
as  yet  unsupplied.  I  wish  it  to  be  clearly  understood  that 
this  inspection  is  not  intended  to  interfere  in  the  smallest 
degree  with  the  legitimate  authority  of  the  incumbent 
within  the  limits  of  his  own  parish.  It  must  rest  entirely 
with  each  incumbent  to  avail  himself  or  not  of  the  services 
of  the  diocesan  inspector.  No  school  will  be  examined 


INSPECTION  IN  RELIGIOUS  KNOWLEDGE.      22$ 

without  the  sanction  of  the  clergyman  to  whose  parish  or 
district  it  belongs.  I  am  thankful  to  find  that  a  large 
number  of  schools  have  been  already  examined.  A  strong 
opinion  has  been  expressed  by  several  of  the  clergy  in 
favour  of  the  plan,  and  in  only  one  or  two  cases  hitherto 
has  the  visit  of  the  diocesan  inspector  been  declined. 

This  is  interesting  as  showing  how  the  way  was 
prepared  for  the  appointment  of  a  special  diocesan 
officer,  aided  by  volunteers,  when  the  complete 
separation  of  religious  and  secular  inspection  was 
rendered  necessary. 

Firmly  as  my  father  maintained  his  strong  con- 
viction that  education,  to  be  worthy  of  the  name, 
must  be  essentially  religious,  he  welcomed  in  no 
grudging  spirit  the  great  Act  of  1870. 

For  Mr.  Forster  personally  he  entertained  a  very 
high  regard,  and  he  was  convinced  that  the  author 
of  the  Act  intended  by  it  no  injury  to  religious 
education. 

On  this,  as  on  many  kindred  subjects,  my  father's 
liberal  sympathy  and  generous  appreciation  of  reli- 
gious effort  outside  the  Church  disposed  him  to 
interpret  to  the  clergy  in  the  most  favourable  light 
acts  of  the  Legislature  in  which  some  of  them  were 
apt  to  read  only  hostility  to  the  Church. 

He  writes  in  his  Charge  of  1870  : — 

A  more  important  problem  than  how  to  secure  a  both 
sufficient  and  suitable  elementary  education  for  the  country 
at  large  could  scarcely  at  any  time  occupy  the  attention  of 
Parliament ;  and  without  pronouncing  an  unqualified  ap- 
proval of  the  mode  in  which  this  problem  has  been  solved, 
it  does  appear  to  me  that,  taking  into  consideration  all  the 
practical  difficulties  with  which  the  subject  is  confessedly 
beset,  we  have  reason  to  be  deeply  thankful  for  the  Elementary 


224      LIFE   OF  BISHOP   ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

Education  Act  which  received  the  Royal  assent  in  A  ugust  last. 
On  the  question  as  to  the  best  mode  in  which  the  influence 
of  the  Government  should  be  exercised  for  the  promotion 
of  elementary  education,  there  were  three  rival  plans  pro- 
posed for  adoption.  On  the  one  hand  there  were  those 
who  advocated  a  system  of  purely  secular  instruction. 
Their  theory  is  that  the  teaching  of  religion  should  be 
banished  from  the  school,  and  relegated  to  the  homes  of 
the  scholars.  The  advocates  of  this  system  will  not  allow 
that  it  is  a  main  part  of  education  to  impart  moral  as  well 
as  intellectual  culture,  and  they  appear  strangely  to  over- 
look the  consideration,  that  to  withhold  religious  instruction 
in  elementary  schools  would  necessarily  be  in  a  large  pro- 
portion of  cases  to  abandon  the  scholars  to  utter  destitution 
of  all  religious  teaching.  Those  who  are  practically 
acquainted  with  the  class  from  which  the  scholars  in 
elementary  schools  are  for  the  most  part  drawn,  must  be 
well  aware  of  the  extreme  improbability  which  there  is 
that  the  majority  of  the  pupils,  if  denied  the  advantage 
of  religious  instruction  in  school,  would  receive  such  instruc- 
tion either  by  precept  or  example  elsewhere. 

There  were  others,  again,  who,  although  alive  to  the 
importance  of  making  religion  the  basis  of  education,  even 
if  with  no  higher  end  in  view  than  to  produce  loyal  and 
good  citizens  for  this  world,  advocated  an  elimination  of  all 
distinctive  doctrine  from  the  religious  instruction  given 
in  school;  they  were  in  favour  of  a  system  of  religious 
teaching  which  should  be  perfectly  colourless,  which  should 
not  exhibit  a  shade  of  dogma,  in  order  that  it  might 
disturb  no  prejudice  and  awaken  no  controversy. 

It  is  difficult  to  understand  how  any  persons  who  really 
believe  that  there  are  such  matters  as  fundamental  truths, 
— truths  which  are  necessary  to  be  believed  for  the  soul's 
salvation,  can  give  their  adherence  to  such  a  system  as  this. 
The  remaining  alternative  seemed  to  be  to  invigorate  and 
extend  the  system  to  which  the  name  of  denominational 
has  been  given,  and  in  connection  with  which  the  country 
has  already  derived  large  and  beneficial  educational  results. 


PRINCIPLE   OF   VOLUNTARY  SCHOOLS.         22$ 

The  advocates  of  the  purely  secular  theory  of  education 
have  made  no  secret  of  their  dislike  of  this  system.  What- 
ever may  have  been  the  origin  of  that  dislike,  whether  it 
was  due  to  the  inherent  nature  of  the  system,  or  whether  it 
arose  on  account  of  the  preponderating  influence  which, 
under  its  operation,  the  Church  has  acquired  in  the  educa- 
tion of  the  country,  the  fact  is  beyond  dispute  that  the 
zeal  of  the  Education  League  was  energetically  directed 
against  the  denominational  system,  with  a  view  to  its  entire 
demolition. 

Happily,  however,  the  feeling  of  the  country,  both  in 
and  out  of  Parliament,  has  been  unmistakably  manifested 
in  favour  of  religious,  as  opposed  to  merely  secular  educa- 
tion. The  belief  was  firmly  rooted  in  the  public  mind, 
that  to  offer  nothing  better  than  mere  secular  instruction 
to  those  who  need  education  at  our  hands,  would  be  to  act 
the  part  of  unnatural  guardians,  and  give  to  the  hungry  a 
stone  in  place  of  bread. 

At  the  same  time,  the  more  the  matter  was  discussed, 
the  more  evident  it  became  that  it  would  be  equally  waste- 
ful and  unwise  to  abandon  a  system  which  has  existed  for 
many  years  ;  with  which  the  country  has  grown  familiar  ; 
which  has  shared  to  a  considerable  degree  the  public 
confidence ;  on  whose  maintenance  large  sums  have  been 
expended,  and  under  the  operation  of  which  the  education 
of  the  country  has  advanced  with  great  and  surprising 
rapidity.  True,  the  system  was  not  perfect ;  it  had  its 
defects ;  the  whole  country  was  by  no  means  adequately 
provided  with  the  machinery  for  education  ;  masses  of  the 
population  might  be  found  whom  no  efforts  either  of  the 
Church  or  of  Nonconformists  to  impart  elementary  educa- 
tion had  hitherto  reached ;  and  it  might  be  said  without 
risk  of  exaggeration,  that  thousands  of  children  were  grow- 
ing up  in  ignorance,  whom  the  existing  system,  unless  it 
were  modified  or  supplemented,  never  could  reach. 

And  yet  for  all  this,  could  it  be  fair  to  overlook  the  fact 
that  by  the  aid  of  this  denominational  system,  in  the  com- 
paratively short  space  of  thirty  years,  the  number  of  scholars 

Q 


226      LIFE    OF  BISHOP   ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

in  elementary  Church  schools  has  risen  from  I  in  367  of 
the  population  to  i  in  13,  and  that  out  of  14,709  parishes 
in  England,  13,016  have  schools  of  their  own;  that  1355, 
although  not  possessing  schools,  are  supplied  with  education 
in  adjoining  parishes,  while  only  338  remain  which  have 
neither  schools  of  their  own,  nor  the  means  of  instruction 
within  a  moderate  distance?  These  results — and  I  am 
speaking  only  of  Church  schools — indicate  a  degree  of 
power  and  vitality  in  the  system  to  which  they  may  in  a 
great  measure  be  attributed,  which  entitle  it  to  a  better 
fate  than  the  process  of  "painless  extinction"  to  which 
the  Education  League  would  have  gladly  consigned  it. 

Parliament  has  pronounced  that  this  system  shall  not 
be  recklessly  abandoned.  An  Act  has  been  passed,  from 
the  operation  of  which  we  may  reasonably  expect  that  in  a 
few  years  the  country  will  be  adequately  supplied  with 
the  requisite  machinery  for  a  complete  system  of  National 
Education.  The  attempt  to  destroy  the  denominational 
system  has  signally  failed,  and  the  efforts  which  the  Church 
has  put  forth  in  the  cause  of  education  have  been  fairly 
recognised. 

At  the  same  time  some  changes  have  been  introduced, 
by  which  existing  schools  will  be  affected,  of  a  nature 
which  none  can  regard  as  trivial,  and  many  must  view  with 
deep  regret.  Amongst  these  changes  the  most  prominent 
are  the  following.  Hitherto  the  managers  of  Church  schools 
have  been  at  liberty  to  enforce,  as  a  condition  of  admission 
to  the  day  school  under  their  charge,  the  attendance  of  the 
scholars  at  the  Sunday  school  and  the  services  of  the 
Church.  This  liberty  is  at  an  end  for  the  future,  in  all 
schools  which  are  under  Government  inspection.  Again, 
while  no  restraint  is  placed  upon  the  kind  of  instruction 
in  religion  which  may  be  given  in  existing  elementary 
schools  receiving  Government  grants,  such  instruction  must 
in  future  be  given  only  at  the  commencement,  or  at  the 
close,  or  at  both  the  commencement  and  the  close,  of  the 
school  hours.  Moreover,  any  parent  is  to  be  at  liberty  to 
withdraw  his  child  from  such  religious  instruction  without 


THE   CONSCIENCE   CLAUSE.  22  7 

forfeiting  any  of  the  other  benefits  of  the  school.  Again, 
it  is  to  be  no  part  of  the  duty  of  Her  Majesty's  inspector 
to  make  any  inquiry  as  to  the  religious  instruction  given  in 
the  school ;  nor  is  the  annual  grant  which  the  school  may 
receive  from  the  State  to  be  in  any  respect  regulated  with 
reference  to  the  religious  instruction  which  the  scholars 
receive. 

With  these  important  exceptions,  existing  schools  which 
are  doing  their  work  efficiently  will  be  left  undisturbed. 
They  will  be  aided  more  liberally  than  heretofore  by  the 
State ;  but  this  is  a  boon  which  would  be  more  welcome  if 
it  were  not  clogged  with  the  condition, — that  the  annual 
grant  shall  not  in  any  one  year  exceed  the  income  of  the 
school  for  that  year,  which  is  derived  from  voluntary  con- 
tributions, school  fees,  and  from  any  sources  other  than  the 
Parliamentary  grant.  There  is  reason  to  fear  that  by  the 
operation  of  this  clause  efficient  schools  in  poor  and  popu- 
lous districts,  where  help  is  most  needed,  will  obtain  the 
smallest  share  of  Government  assistance ;  while  schools  in 
wealthy  parishes,  where  subscriptions  are  most  easily  pro- 
cured, and  where  State  aid  is  less  required,  will  benefit 
most  largely. 

So  much  for  existing  schools.  But  the  Act  regulates 
for  the  establishment  of  schools  in  places  where  the  pro- 
vision for  elementary  education  is  inadequate  or  unsuitable. 
An  inquiry  will  be  first  made  as  to  the  provision  which 
exists ;  should  that  provision  be  pronounced  inadequate, 
and  should  no  prospect  appear  that  within  a  limited  period 
the  deficiency  will  be  supplied  by  voluntary  effort,  then 
schools  will  be  established,  and  placed  under  the  manage- 
ment of  a  school  board,  the  cost  of  their  establishment 
being  defrayed  by  a  rate  to  be  levied  under  the  authority 
of  the  Act.  In  schools  thus  established — I  quote  the 
words  of  the  Act — "  No  religious  catechism  or  religious 
formulary  which  is  distinctive  of  any  particular  denomi- 
nation shall  be  taught."  In  certain  specified  cases  the 
school  board  will  have  the  power  to  make  the  education 
entirely  free  of  charge  to  the  parent,  thereby,  of  course, 


228      LIFE    OF  BISHOP   ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

throwing  an  additional  burden  on  the  rate  ;  a  discretionary 
power  is  also  given  to  the  school  board  in  certain  cases  to 
make  the  attendance  of  children  at  rate-supported  schools 
compulsory. 

Such  are  the  main  provisions  of  the  Elementary  Educa- 
tion Act  so  far  as  this  diocese  is  likely  to  be  affected  by  it. 
Some  important  questions  arise  for  consideration  in  con- 
nection with  the  changes  which  the  Act  will  introduce. 
Foremost  among  them  is  the  probable  effect  of  the  measure 
with  regard  to  religious  instruction.  The  introduction  of 
the  principle  of  a  conscience  clause  need  not  of  itself  excite 
any  alarm  ;  in  most  large  elementary  schools  the  principle 
has  been  tacitly  recognised  for  many  years  past.  I  do  not 
anticipate  that  the  enforcement  of  this  principle  by  Act  of 
Parliament  will  occasion  any  great  change.  Instances 
seldom  occur  in  which  parents  having  on  the  one  hand 
shown  confidence  in  an  elementary  school  by  seeking 
admission  for  their  children,  betray  on  the  other  hand  a 
want  of  confidence  by  stipulating  that  they  shall  not  share 
with  the  other  scholars  in  the  religious  instruction.  Such 
exceptional  cases  will  not  in  all  probability  be  more 
numerous  in  consequence  of  the  passing  of  the  Elementary 
Education  Act.  But  should  it  be  otherwise,  it  will  be  well 
to  bear  in  mind  that  the  liberty  which  a  clergyman  may 
justly  claim  to  have  every  doctrine  of  God's  Word  taught 
in  his  parish  school  is  left  unfettered ;  and  it  is  in  reality 
the  liberty  of  the  parent  to  exercise  a  control  over  the 
religious  education  of  his  child  for  which  provision  is  now 
for  the  first  time  made  by  Act  of  Parliament.  But  what 
we  have  real  cause  to  apprehend  is  this.  The  religious 
instruction  given  in  an  elementary  school  which  receives 
Government  aid  is  not,  as  I  have  explained,  in  future  to 
come  in  any  shape  within  the  inquiry  of  Her  Majesty's  in- 
spector. His  report  will  contain  no  allusion  to  the  religious 
teaching  or  condition  of  the  school.  His  estimate  of  the 
character  or  capabilities  of  the  teacher  will  be  formed  with- 
out any  reference  to  skill  or  fidelity  in  communicating  reli- 
gious knowledge.  The  grant  from  Government  upon  which 


MAINTENANCE  OF  RELIGIOUS  INSTRUCTION.     229 

the  support  of  the  school  and  the  credit  of  the  teacher  may 
so  materially  depend,  will  not  be  regulated  in  the  smallest 
degree  by  the  proficiency  of  the  pupils  in  Scriptural  know- 
ledge. Not  a  fraction  of  the  aid  given  by  the  State  will 
depend  upon  the  condition  of  the  school  with  respect  to 
religion.  Will  not  this  fact  operate  on  the  mind  of  the 
teacher  ?  Will  he  be  proof  against  the  temptation  to  slight 
the  subject  which  the  Government  inspector  ignores,  and 
expend  his  teaching  energies  on  those  branches  of  learning 
which  have  a  palpable  influence  in  procuring  a  favourable 
report,  and,  in  consequence,  a  liberal  grant  ? 

To  guard  against  this  result  will  demand  the  utmost 
care  and  -vigilance.  You  will  agree  with  me,  my  Reveren  d 
Brethren,  that  at  all  cost  the  religious  instruction  and  the 
religious  tone  of  our  elementary  schools  must  be  maintained. 
As  one  practical  mode  of  securing  this  result,  I  think  it 
essential  that  we  should  have  thorough  and  effective  dio- 
cesan inspection  of  all  Church  schools.  I  am  not  insensible 
to  the  advantages  which  have  accrued  from  the  system  of 
diocesan  inspection  which  we  already  possess.  My  grate- 
ful acknowledgments  are  due  to  those  who,  at  my  request, 
have  filled  the  office  of  diocesan  inspectors.  They  have 
freely  given  their  time  and  labour  to  the  discharge  of  this 
office,  and  by  the  zeal  and  tact  with  which  they  have  per- 
formed its  duties  they  have  entitled  themselves  to  the 
thanks  which  I  now  tender  in  my  own  behalf,  and  in  behalf 
of  the  managers  of  the  schools  which  they  have  inspected. 
But  the  altered  circumstances  in  which  we  are  now  placed 
seem  to  render  a  different  arrangement  necessary  in  future. 
If  the  religious  teaching  is  to  be  upheld  in  thorough  effi- 
ciency, it  is  all  but  indispensable  that  we  should  have  a 
paid  diocesan  inspector,  whose  main  duty  shall  be  to 
examine  the  schools  placed  under  his  supervision  with 
respect  to  their  religious  knowledge,  and  whose  whole  time 
shall  be  devoted  to  the  duties  of  his  office. 

The  only  practical  difficulty  is  the  financial  one.  Whence 
are  the  funds  to  be  derived  for  the  salary  of  such  an  inspec- 
tor ?  Now,  if  the  managers  of  our  Church  schools  are  alive 


230      LIFE    OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

to  the  importance  of  upholding  the  religious  standard,  and 
if  they  are  convinced  of  the  danger  which  exists  of  this 
standard  being  lowered  unless  some  effective  means  are 
adopted  for  diocesan  inspection,  is  it  too  much  to  hope 
that  a  fund  may  be  created  by  a  contribution  from  each 
Church  school,  and  that  out  of  such  a  fund,  supplemented 
by  a  grant  from  the  Diocesan  Board  of  Education,  the 
means  may  be  provided  for  securing  the  services  of  a  com- 
petent inspector,  and  also  for  affording  some  pecuniary 
inducement  to  the  teachers  of  elementary  schools  not  to 
relax  their  endeavours  to  impart  religious  instruction  to 
their  scholars  ? 

Another  consideration  arising  out  of  the  changes  to 
which  I  have  referred  is  also  of  pressing  importance. 
Inquiry  will  be  instituted  without  delay  into  the  existing 
amount  of  school  accommodation.  Where  a  deficiency  is 
proved  to  exist,  and  where  there  appears  to  be  no  prospect 
of  its  removal  by  voluntary  effort,  a  school  board  will  be 
elected,  and  a  school  established  in  which  neither  the 
Church  Catechism  nor  any  other  distinctive  religious  for- 
mulary may  be  taught.  It  is  the  plain  duty  of  Churchmen 
to  anticipate  this  inquiry,  and  by  prompt  effort  to  aim  at 
founding  Church  schools  wherever  the  necessity  is  found  to 
exist. 

Your  replies  to  my  Visitation  queries  afford  some  data 
for  guidance  in  this  matter.  It  appears  from  these  returns 
that  there  are  thirty-five  benefices  which  have  no  Church 
school  connected  with  them.  In  four  of  these  subscrip- 
tions have  been  already  obtained  which  will  ensure  the 
erection  of  schools  in  the  course  of  a  few  months  ;  nine  are 
newly-constituted  districts  where  there  has  not  been  suffi- 
cient time  since  the  consecration  of  the  church  to  provide 
schools ;  in  a  small  proportion  of  the  remaining  cases 
sufficient  school  accommodation  is  met  with  at  a  moderate" 
distance ;  but  as  regards  the  rest,  there  can  hardly  be  a 
doubt  that  the  result  of  the  inquiry  which  is  already  in 
progress  will  be  that  the  school  accommodation  will  be 
pronounced  inadequate,  and  unless  due  provison  is  made, 


APPEAL    TO  A    POPULAR  AUDIENCE.         231 

within  a  reasonable  interval  by  voluntary  effort,  the  alter- 
native will  be  schools  provided  by  rate,  and  placed  under 
the  direction  of  a  school  board. 

It  appears  from  the  returns  now  before  me  that  the 
numbers  upon  the  register  in  elementary  Church  schools 
in  the  diocese  are  41,732  boys,  30,838  girls,  22,258  infants. 
The  Sunday  schools  have  83,009  scholars,  and  there  are 
8131  scholars  in  attendance  at  night  schools  for  adults. 

The  Bishop  promoted  religious  education  not 
only  in  these  Charges  to  the  clergy,  but  also  by 
appealing  to  the  religious  instincts  of  the  main  body 
of  the  people.  He  had  the  utmost  confidence  in 
the  right  instincts  of  the  people  if  they  had  the 
truth  placed  before  them.  Thus  he  gladly  availed 
himself  of  an  opportunity,  which  was  offered  to  him 
in  Huddersfield,  of  addressing  a  mass  meeting  of 
working  men  held  in  the  Armoury  in  1879. 

I  quote  from  his  speech  on  that  occasion,  as  it 
seems  a  good  illustration  of  his  capacity  for  making 
great  truths  clear  to  a  popular  audience. 

The  Bishop  was  warmly  received,  and  said  the  meeting 
had  been  called  for  the  twofold  purpose  of  advocating 
the  cause  of  religious  education  set  in  contrast  with  a 
system  of  secular  education ;  and  to  offer  an  opportunity 
for  stating  the  claims  to  public  support  of  the  National 
Society  for  the  Education  of  the  Poor  in  the  Principles  of 
the  Established  Church.  He  wished,  then,  first  of  all  to 
consider  whether  they  really  understood  the  full  force  and 
meaning  of  the  word  "  education."  He  was  inclined  to  think 
there  were  many  persons  who  talked  about  education,  who 
scarcely  realised  the  exact  meaning  of  the  word  " education" 
itself.  Education  was  not  comprehended  in  what  was 
commonly  spoken  of  as  teaching  the  three  R's,  still  less  in 
cramming  the  mind  with  facts,  whether  of  history,  literature, 
or  science.  Education  he  took  to  be  the  calling  forth,  or 


232      LIFE    OF  BISHOP   ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

the  development,  of  the  faculties  with  which  God  had 
endowed  them,  with  a  view  to  their  employment  for  the 
good  of  others,  as  well  as  for  the  glory  of  God,  which  was 
the  highest  object  at  which  any  human  being  could  aim. 
If  that  were  a  correct  definition  of  the  term  "  education  "  he 
came  to  consider  the  fact  that  man  was  a  compound  being  ; 
that  every  human  being  was  so  constituted  as  to  consist 
of  a  natural  part  subject  to  death  and  dissolution,  of  a 
mental  part,  by  which  he  was  distinguished  from  animals 
that  could  not  reason,  and  of  a  spiritual  part,  which  was 
destined  to  survive  the  wreck  and  ruin  of  matter,  and  to 
live  throughout  eternity.  If  man  was  thus  constituted, 
and  if  education  rightly  meant  the  calling  forth,  or  the 
development,  of  faculties  with  which  he  was  endowed,  then 
he  maintained  that  education  which  really  deserved  the 
name  ought  to  touch  each  of  these  three  parts  of  man's 
being ;  and  education  which  did  not  touch  each  of  those 
parts  he  pronounced  to  be  essentially  defective.  With 
regard  to  man's  physical  constitution,  education  to  be 
valuable  ought  to  teach  the  laws  of  health,  and  develop  all 
those  physical  powers  which  so  much  contribute  to  their 
enjoyment,  and  to  their  ability  to  discharge  the  various 
functions  of  life.  As  to  their  intellectual  being,  education 
to  be  valuable  ought  to  teach  the  laws  of  thought,  to 
supply  the  mind  with  facts,  whether  of  history  or  of  science, 
and  to  cultivate  all  those  powers  by  which  man  might  be 
able  adequately  to  discharge  the  various  duties  which 
devolved  upon  him  as  a  reasoning,  intelligent  being. 

Secular  education  exclusively  was  both  defective  and 
mischievous  :  defective,  because  it  did  not  touch  the  higher 
part  of  man's  being,  the  moral  and  spiritual  part ;  mis- 
chievous, because  while  secular  education  endowed  the 
student  with  enormous  power,  it  omitted  altogether  the 
communication  of  the  only  principle  by  which  that  power 
might  be  used  to  advantage.  The  power  which  knowledge 
gave  might  be  used  for  good  or  for  evil,  and  he  maintained 
that  it  would  only  be  used  for  good  in  proportion  as  it  was 
under  the  control  of  right  principle.  Directly  they  came 


THE   AIM  OF  EDUCATION.  233 

to  speak  of  right  principle  as  the  governing  power,  they 
must  have  religious  teaching  to  educate  man's  moral  being. 
What  was  the  highest  knowledge  which  a  man  could 
acquire  as  a  spiritual  being  ?  Was  it  not  a  knowledge  of 
God  ?  Were  they  not  told  that  this  was  eternal  life — "  To 
know  Thee  the  only  true  God,  and  Jesus  Christ,  Whom 
Thou  hast  sent"?  And  was  it  not  a  fact  that  moral  power, 
or  the  education,  which  they  sought  to  give  with  a  view  to 
man's  moral  being,  must  take  into  account  the  relation 
in  which  they  stood  towards  God,  and  the  relation  in  which 
God  had  been  pleased  to  place  Himself  towards  men? 
Well,  then,  if  they  were  to  have  moral  teaching,  he  came  to 
this  further  point,  that  they  must  have  Bible  teaching,  the 
teaching  of  revealed  religion.  He  thought  that  must  be 
evident  to  those  who  would  consider  the  fact  for  a  moment. 
There  were  two  ways  in  which  God  had  been  pleased  to 
reveal  Himself.  He  was  revealed  in  His  works ;  He  was 
revealed  in  His  Word.  The  book  of  Revelation  admitted 
that  God  was  revealed  in  His  works,  for  they  were  told, 
"  The  heavens  declare  the  glory  of  God,  and  the  firmanent 
sheweth  His  handiwork."  It  was  impossible  to  gaze  abroad 
on  the  works  of  God  unfolded  to  them  in  the  visible 
creation  without  deriving  many  a  lesson  with  regard  to 
the  power,  the  wisdom,  the  faithfulness,  the  constancy  of 
Jehovah.  He  maintained,  on  the  one  hand,  that  the  revela- 
tion of  God  in  His  works  was  in  a  measure  defective ;  and 
he  maintained,  on  the  other  hand,  that  by  reason  of  sin 
man  had  lost  the  power  which,  as  an  unfallen  being,  he 
possessed  of  reading  and  discerning  the  lessons  which  the 
works  of  God  were  intended  to  teach.  Now,  if  there  were 
any  truth  in  these  observations,  then  they  were  driven  to 
the  conclusion  that  if  man  was  to  know  that  which  was 
most  essential  for  him  to  know  with  respect  to  God  and 
his  prospects,  they  must  have  Bible  teaching.  .  .  .  He  was 
very  far  from  speaking  against  secular  education.  He 
would  have  secular  education  carried  to  its  very  furthest 
point,  in  order  to  qualify  a  man  for  the  right  discharge  of 
the  duties  appertaining  to  his  particular  vocation  in  life, 


234      LIFE   OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

be  what  it  might.  But  he  maintained  this:  if  they  neg- 
lected to  sow  the  seeds  of  religious  principle  in  what  he 
might  almost  venture  to  assert  the  virgin  soil  of  youth, 
they  neglected  an  opportunity  which  they  would  never 
regain.  That  soil  might  become  prolific  only  of  weeds, 
which  might  otherwise  be  prolific  in  the  fruits  of  Divine 
grace.  Therefore  it  would  be  wrong  on  the  part  of  those 
who  undertook  the  education  of  children  to  neglect  their 
religious  education.  Suppose  it  were  the  highest  object  of 
education  (which  he  did  not  at  all  admit)  to  cultivate  the 
intellectual  powers  to  the  utmost,  he  would  still  denounce 
the  unwisdom  of  excluding  religious  teaching.  He  would 
tell  them  why.  The  laws  of  mind  in  some  respect  were 
similar  to  the  laws  of  matter.  They  knew  in  respect  to 
material  things  that  the  muscle  which  was  unused  dwindled 
and  decayed,  that  if  they  wanted  to  develop  the  muscular 
system  they  must  call  the  muscles  into  play — must  make 
them  familiar  with  exercise  so  as  to  develop  their  power 
and  strength.  Now,  if  they  wanted  to  invigorate  the  powers 
of  the  mind,  they  must  bring  those  powers  into  contact 
with  subjects  which  demanded  thought  and  careful  study. 
The  mind  had  the  property  of  gradually  contracting  itself 
to  the  limit  of  the  matter  with  which  alone  it  was  familiar- 
ised ;  and  if  the  mind  was  in  contact  only  with  things  which 
were  trivial,  small,  and  minute,  the  powers  of  the  mind 
gradually  dwindled  and  decayed ;  whereas,  on  the  other 
hand,  in  proportion  as  the  intellectual  powers  were  sum- 
moned to  grapple  with  what  was  large  and  difficult  did 
they  develop  and  strengthen.  Where  in  all  the  range  of 
science,  or  philosophy,  or  of  secular  knowledge  were  there 
any  truths  to  compare  with  the  truths  of  revelation  in 
respect  of  the  grasp  of  thought  which  they  required  in 
order  to  reach  their  full  understanding  ?  Try  and  measure 
eternity.  Try  and  measure  the  attributes  of  God,  His 
omnipresence,  omniscience,  omnipotence,  and  they  would 
find  that  as  the  powers  of  the  mind  were  called  to  grapple 
with  such  truths  as  these,  they  would  grow  in  power  and 
force,  just  as  the  muscle  was  developed  by  being  used  to 
overcome  what  was  difficult. 


THE   NATIONAL   SOCIETY.  235 

The  Bishop  went  on  to  advocate  the  principles 
of  the  National  Society  ;  but  while  he  urged  Church- 
men to  maintain  their  denominational  schools,  he 
was  no  less  anxious  to  urge  the  general  public  to 
see  that  that  religious  education  was  supplied  in  the 
Board  Schools,  which  the  illustrious  author  of  the 
Act  of  1870  so  earnestly  desired. 

The  Education  Acts  have  done  so  much  for  the 
people,  and  the  future  is  so  full  of  vast  possibilities 
for  good,  that  the  writer  trusts  this  weighty  speech 
may  be  read  with  attention  by  many  who,  whether 
in  Church  or  Board  Schools,  can  direct  the  education 
of  the  young. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

RETREATS,  MISSIONS,  CHURCH  CONGRESS,  AND  DIOCESAN 
CONFERENCE. 

Retreats  and  Missions — Letter  from  Dr.  Gott — My  father  conducts  the 
first  Episcopal  Retreat  for  Clergy — Bishop  Kennion's  notes  of  his 
address — Advocates  Mission  work  and  takes  an  active  part  in 
Missions  in  Bradford,  Huddersfield,  Leeds,  etc.  —  The  Leeds 
Mission  in  1875 — Letters  from  Canon  Temple  on  the  Church 
Congress  at  Leeds,  and  on  the  Diocesan  Conference — Bishop 
Forbes  of  Brechin — Letter  from  the  Rev.  H.  D.  Cust  Nunn  on 
the  rural  deans'  conferences. 

ALLUSION  has  been  already  made  to  my  father's 
connection  with  the  first  of  the  four  distinguished 
men  who,  during  his  episcopate,  held  the  Vicarage 
of  Leeds.  Another  of  them,  when  he  heard  that 
a  sketch  of  my  father's  life  was  contemplated,  ex- 
pressed his  warm  interest  and  the  wish  to  write 
a  letter  to  the  biographer,  giving  his  recollections 
of  my  father's  work  in  Leeds  ;  but  Bishop  Wood- 
ford's  lamented  death  has  deprived  the  reader  of  what 
would  have  lent  a  special  interest  to  this  book.  The 
Dean  of  Worcester  has  very  kindly  filled  the  gap, 
and  has  written  the  following  letter,  in  which  he 
brings  out  the  part  my  father  took  in  two  very 
important  branches  of  directly  spiritual  work.  He 
says : — 


LETTER   FROM  DR.    GOTT.  237 

My  dear  Cyril, — I  wish  I  could  help  you  worthily  in 
the  life  you  are  writing  for  us,  for  your  book  is  a  true 
chapter  of  English  life,  telling  of  a  ripening  Church,  and 
a  Bishop's  constant  presence,  touch,  and  blessing  on  a 
teeming  part  of  England,  which  seems  to  many  of  us  a 
typical  diocese  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

The  only  difficulty  I  have  is  the  simple  fact  that  the 
Bishop  was  permeating  all  things  and  places  so  habitually, 
that  there  were  no  comings  and  goings  in  a  way  that  would 
make  scenes  and  events  ;  there  were  few  incidents,  for  his 
life  was  a  single  incident  in  the  growth  of  the  Church  in 
the  North.  This  was  specially  the  case  in  Leeds,  in  and 
out  of  which  he  was  passing  two  or  three  times  every  week, 
for  it  was  the  road  to  many  of  the  chief  towns  of  the 
diocese,  and  the  scene  of  most  of  his  diocesan  meetings. 

Yet  some  things  stand  out  in  the  front  of  my  memory, 
for  to  your  father  we  owe  the  first  authorised  Retreat  for 
Clergy,  to  which  he  summoned  us  during  the  summer  of 
1876.  Many  clergy  had  held  aloof  from  any  devotional 
time  of  this  kind,  until  it  was  conducted  by  their  Father  in 
God,  by  one  who  had  authority  to  speak  to  the  conscience, 
and  appeal  to  the  spirit  of  a  clergyman  ;  and  it  was,  per- 
haps, the  last  addition  which  he  made  to  the  spiritual 
organisation  of  the  diocese. 

When  I  first  wrote  to  ask  him  for  work  in  Yorkshire,  he 
put  my  purpose  through  a  long  and  hard  trial,  lest  it  should 
be  the  child  of  secondary  motives.  When  Yarmouth  was 
offered  me,  and  I  laid  the  matter  before  him,  he  asked  me 
three  questions,  (i)  Did  my  doctor  allow  me  to  under- 
take a  parish  of  that  size  ?  (2)  Was  I  needlessly  leaving 
the  work  at  Bramley  to  which  God  had  called  me  ?  (3) 
Had  I  raised  a  finger  to  get  myself  the  offer  of  this  church  ? 

In  one  of  those  walks  or  rides  in  which  he  used  to  draw 
us  out,  and  put  his  own  experiences  and  higher  aims  into 
us,  I  asked  him  how  he  had  managed  to  be  the  parish 
priest  in  society  when  he  was  a  vicar  in  London.  He 
described  the  ways  by  which  he  gradually  led  his  people 
to  wish  him  to  have  family  prayers  at  the  close  of  their 


238      LIFE    OF  BISHOP   ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

parties,  and  the  habit  that  grew  among  his  own  parishioners 
of  referring  to  him  some  intellectual  difficulty  of  the  Bible, 
or  the  application  of  some  chapters  to  modern  life  and 
London  society,  until  this  became  a  common  practice  when 
he  spent  the  evening  socially  in  his  own  parish. 

And  he  always  honoured  the  priesthood  of  his  clergy. 
In  the  first  parish  I  held  in  his  diocese,  one  of  my  wardens 
complained  to  him  that  I  had  introduced  a  hymn-book 
containing  expressions  that  he  considered  very  High  Church  ; 
he  thought  he  should  find  a  willing  ear  in  Dr.  Bickersteth, 
but  he  found  something  better,  for  the  Bishop  bade  him 
look  out  all  the  hymns  in  the  book  that  would  help  him 
to  Christ,  and  to  put  the  best  construction  upon  those  of 
which  he  complained. 

These  are  among  the  blessed  memories  that  recall 
the  Father  in  God  ;  not  only  the  ordainer  of  his  clergy, 
but  our  director  and  counsellor,  who  stood  by  us,  and 
helped  us  to  rise  to  the  height  and  ripeness  of  our  ministry. 
Other  memories  are  not  wanting ;  let  me  go  to  the 
opposite  end  of  a  bishop's  life,  his  touch  on  the  outside 
world,  "  the  people,"  (especially  as  they  rise  to  the  crown 
of  their  wave  in  the  men  that  work  in  our  great  factories). 

We  were  planning  a  great  Mission  for  the  whole  town 
of  Leeds,  and  the  question  arose,  What  part  shall  we  ask 
the  Bishop  to  undertake  ?  if  he  preached  at  any  one  church, 
it  would  be  unfair  to  the  others  ;  and  if  he  scattered  him- 
self among  the  churches,  preaching  once  to  each  of  the 
leading  congregations,  it  would  interfere  with  the  plan  of 
the  regular  missioners.  He  consented,  therefore,  to  address 
the  chief  mills  of  the  town.  The  manufacturers  willingly 
opened  their  works,  and  made  excellent  arrangements  for 
gathering  their  people  round  the  Bishop. 

The  men  came  in  orderly  crowds,  and  gave  us  a  lesson 
in  the  art  of  listening.  Yet  it  cost  them  much.  In  many 
mills  the  masters  gave  them  half  an  hour  or  an  hour  out 
of  working  time,  at  a  cost  in  some  cases  of  £100.  In  others 
the  masters  gave  twenty  minutes,  and  the  men  out  of  their 
dinner  or  tea-time  gave  as  much  more.  In  this  way  the 


THE  LEEDS  MISSION.  239 

Bishop  addressed  all  the  larger  mills  and  workshops  of  the 
town,  three  and  often  four  a  day,  for  ten  days.  The  vicar 
of  the  parish  and  two  or  three  younger  clergy  generally 
accompanied  him,  to  learn  their  lesson,  or  to  follow  up  the 
work  afterwards.  It  was  certainly  the  most  difficult,  and 
often  the  most  valuable  part  of  the  Mission.  It  brought 
the  Church  to  the  masses  ;  the  men  said  it  brought  it  home 
to  them. 

The  people  saw  the  use  of  a  bishop,  and  grew  to  know 
him  personally.  It  showed  that  religion  was  distinctly 
in  its  place  in  working  days  and  scenes,  a  thought  that 
seemed  new  to  many.  Deeper  results  mostly  work  out  of 
sight,  yet  the  men  told  us  that  their  Bishop's  presence  in 
their  mills  brought  numbers  of  them  to  Church. 

Nor  did  his  contribution  to  our  Mission  stop  here ;  it 
began  before  this,  and  ended  afterwards.  To  his  hand  we 
owed  the  Pastoral  that  authorised  and  founded  our  work  ; 
he  preached  to  the  clergy  and  churchworkers  before  the 
Mission  commenced  ;  his  words  summed  up  the  whole  at 
the  conclusion  of  the  ten  days,  and  his  hands  confirmed 
double  the  usual  number  of  candidates  two  months  after 
the  missioners  had  left  us. 

The  youngest  lay  helper  felt  himself  a  fellow-labourer 
with  his  Bishop,  and  the  new  communicant  recognised  his 
part  in  sealing  the  influences  that  had  moulded  him. 

I  have  only  touched  two  points  of  his  work  among  us, 
its  innermost  and  its  outermost  point ;  yet  these  may  fairly 
serve  as  samples  of  the  life  and  ministry  that  has  passed 
but  not  passed  away  from  the  heart  of  the  Diocese  he  ruled 
for  a  great  quarter  of  a  century. 

Yours  ever  affectionately, 

JOHN  GOTT. 

In  his  Charge  of  1876,  insisting  as  usual  on  the 
absolute  necessity  of  personal  holiness  in  the  clergy, 
my  father  suggests  the  observance  of  a  Retreat  or 
time  of  special  meditation  for  deepening  the  spiritual 
life.  He  writes  : — 


240      LIFE   OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

First,  and  above  all  things  else,  let  me  implore  you  to 
aim  at  raising  the  standard  of  personal  holiness  amongst 
yourselves.  This  is  the  secret  of  all  ministerial  influence 
and  success.  Come  any  trial  to  the  Church  rather  than 
the  lack  of  a  pious  clergy !  The  severest  calamity  which 
could  possibly  befall  a  Church  would  not  be  the  want  of 
worldly  resources,  nor  the  disruption  of  the  ties  which  unite 
her  with  the  State,  nor  the  want  of  learning  in  her  ministers 
(although  this  would  be  a  fearful  disaster),  nor  the  want  of 
gifts,  but  the  want  of  personal  holiness  in  those  who  minister 
at  her  Altars.  Apart  from  this,  human  wisdom,  ability,  or 
eloquence,  are  of  little  or  no  avail.  Covet  earnestly,  if  you 
will,  the  best  gifts ;  but  still  there  is  "  a  more  excellent 
way."  Grace  is  more  than  gifts.  As  the  standard  of  our 
own  spiritual  life  is  raised,  we  shall  be  stronger  and  stronger 
for  the  work  which  lies  before  us. 

To  this  end  need  I  observe  how  necessary  it  is  to  secure 
time  for  prayer,  meditation,  and  the  study  of  God's  Word  ? 
We  live  in  a  busy  and  restless  age.  Amidst  the  ceaseless 
activities  of  a  public  ministerial  life,  there  is  often  a  strong 
temptation  to  abbreviate  the  time  which  ought  to  be  de- 
voted to  private  communion  with  God.  We  have  each  need 
to  keep  in  mind  the  exhortation  to  which  we  hearkened 
at  that  solemn  period  of  our  lives  when  we  were  called  to 
the  priesthood,  which  bade  us  "  continually  pray  to  God  the 
Father,  by  the  Mediation  of  our  only  Saviour  Jesus  Christ, 
for  the  heavenly  assistance  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  that,  by 
daily  reading  and  weighing  of  the  Scriptures,  ye  may  wax 
riper  and  stronger  in  your  Ministry." 

Amongst  the  means  which  may  tend  to  the  deepening 
of  spiritual  life,  I  believe  that  seasons  of  retirement  for 
prayer  and  meditation  and  mutual  exhortation  out  of  God's 
Word  would  be  found  eminently  useful.  We  have  the 
warrant  for  this  in  the  example  set  by  our  Blessed  Master. 
To  His  chosen  Apostles,  the  daily  companions  of  His 
ministerial  life,  He  said,  "  Come  ye  yourselves  apart  unto  a 
desert  place,  and  rest  awhile."  If  they  needed  such  a 
season  of  rest  and  meditation,  although  living  daily  within 


A   RETREAT  FOR    THE   CLERGY.  241 

the  hallowing  influence  of  personal  intercourse  with  Jesus, 
how  much  more  must  we,  His  ministers,  need  it,  whose  lot 
is  cast  in  the  midst  of  temptations,  and  who  find  it  often 
hard  to  realise  the  Presence  of  Him  Whom,  having  not  seen, 
we  love.  Such  seasons  for  special  retirement  have  been 
found  precious  in  the  experience  of  the  many  who  have 
enjoyed  them  ;  times  of  spiritual  refreshment  which  have 
left  a  special  blessing  behind.  I  am  not  without  hope  of 
being  able  in  the  course  of  the  present  year  to  arrange  a 
season  for  private  devotion  and  meditation  upon  God's 
Word  for  such  of  the  clergy  as  may  desire  to  avail  them- 
selves of  it. 

I  am  indebted  to  Dr.  Kennion,  the  Bishop  of 
Adelaide,  for  the  following  notes  of  an  address  given 
by  my  father  at  the  Retreat  for  Clergy,  held  at  the 
Training  College,  Ripon,  in  August  of  the  same  year, 
1876:— 

HEB.  xii.  14. 

Peace  and  holiness  our  object. 
Our  hearts  must  be  grateful  for  the  office  we  hold. 
Yet  dangers  from  office  : — 

1.  Professionalism  in  spiritual  things. 

2.  Critical  (only)  study  of  Holy  Scripture. 

3.  Errors  we  meet  with. 

4.  Our  very  successes  retard  growth  in  grace. 

5.  Want  of  intercourse  with  one  another. 

6.  Misconception  of  each  other's  views. 

It  is  a  solemnising  thought  that  we  meet  here  to  help 
one  another. 

Weighty  responsibility  on  each  of  us. 
Our  subject  :— 

Sanctification,  its  necessity. 
„  „    means. 

„  „    source. 

R 


242      LIFE    OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

Necessity  of  Holiness. 

1.  Perception    of    spiritual    truth    depends    upon 

degree  of  Holiness. 

"  If  any  man  will  do  His  Will,  he  shall  know." 
Surely  essential  to  Ministry. 

2.  To  make  us  meet  for  inheritance  of  Saints  in 

light. 
Holy  Ghost  will  not  dwell  where  impurity  reigns. 

3.  Holiness  very  atmosphere  of  Heaven. 
Pure  in  heart  shall  see  God. 

Holiness  always  implies  separation,  dedication, 

or  consecration. 

Christian  consecrated  by  vows  of  Holy  Baptism. 
Holiness  involves  purity  of  thought,  word,  act. 
In  Heaven  but  one  mind,  one  impulse. 
Where  all  these  are  consecrated  to  God's  service 
there  you  have  a  foretaste  of  true  Sanctifica- 
tion. 
Source,  Holy  Ghost. 

What  worth  without  the  Holy  Spirit  ? 
His  province  is  to  quicken. 
Resort  to  prayer. 
Seconded  by  effort. 

(Here  the  notes  break  off.) 

Each  of  these  points  was  clearly  and  lovingly  enlarged 
upon. 

To  the  best  of  my  recollection  the  Bishop  spoke  on  the 
"  means "  of  Sanctification,  though,  with  the  exception  of 
the  two  last  phrases  recorded,  the  notes  do  not  allude  to 
what  he  said. 

This  was,  I  believe,  the  first  Diocesan  Retreat 
conducted  by  a  bishop  in  person  for  the  benefit  of 
his  clergy ;  and  the  part  my  father  took  in  it  dis- 
armed the  opposition  of  those  who  supposed  that 
there  was  something  un-English  and  anti- Protestant 
in  such  a  movement. 


A    PASTORAL  LETTER.  243 

The  following  letter  to  the  clergy  was  sent  out 
in  1880,  and  perhaps,  considering  the  growing  in- 
terest in  devotional  meetings  of  the  sort,  it  may  be 
interesting  to  see  what  the  proposed  arrangements 
were. 

"  Again  I  say  unto  you,  That  if  two  of  you  shall  agree  on  earth  as  touching 
anything  that  they  shall  ask,  it  shall  be  done  for  them  of  My  Father  Which  is 
in  heaven.  For  where  two  or  three  are  gathered  together  in  My  name,  there 
am  I  in  the  midst  of  them  "  (Matt,  xviii.  19,  20). 

"We  will  give  ourselves  continually  to  prayer,  and  to  the  ministry  of  the 
Word  "(Acts  vi.  4). 

The  Palace,  Ripon,  May  3,  1880. 

In  compliance  with  an  earnest  wish  which  has  been 
expressed  to  me  by  some  of  the  clergy,  I  am  making 
arrangements  to  hold  a  Retreat,  or  private  meeting  of 
Clergy  for  prayer  and  meditation,  with  a  view  to  the 
deepening  of  their  spiritual  life,  at  the  Female  Training 
College,1  Ripon,  in  August  next,  from  the  pth  to  the  I2th. 

At  the  suggestion  of  several  of  my  Reverend  Brethren, 
who  feel  a  warm  interest  in  this  proposed  gathering,  I  have 
consented  to  take  the  principal  part  in  the  conduct  of  the 
religious  exercises.  The  great  aim  to  which  our  thoughts 
and  prayers  should  be  directed  is  the  glory  of  God  in  the 
increase  of  our  own  personal  piety  ;  the  promotion  of  a 
higher  standard  of  devotedness  in  the  service  of  our  Lord 
and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ ;  the  growth  of  brotherly  union 
between  all,  who,  whilst  differing,  it  may  be,  in  minor 
matters,  recognise  the  solemn  responsibilities  of  the  Sacred 
Ministry,  and  the  indispensable  need  of  personal  holiness 
for  the  effective  discharge,  under  God's  blessing,  of  the 
work  of  winning  souls. 

The  General  Arrangements  will  be  as  follows  : — 

The  clergy  will  assemble  at  the  Female  Training  Col- 
lege, Ripon,  on  Monday,  August  9th.  Sufficient  bedroom 
accommodation  will  be  provided  in  that  Institution  for 
those  who  shall  have  previously  signified  their  intention  to 

1  This  large  and  commodious  building  was  available  for  the  purpose  owing 
to  the  absence  of  the  students  for  their  usual  summer  holidays. 


244      LIFE   OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

attend.  The  time  of  the  gathering  will  extend  from  Mon- 
day evening,  the  9th,  to  Thursday  morning,  the  I2th  of 
August.  All  meals  will  be  in  common  in  the  College  Hall, 
and  the  expense  to  each  will  be  limited  as  nearly  as  pos- 
sible to  fifteen  shillings. 

PROPOSED  ORDER  OF  PROCEEDINGS. 

Monday ',  A  ugust  9. 

5  p.m. — Clergy  arrive  at  the  Training  College  and  select 
their  rooms. 

6  p.m. — Tea  in  the  Dining  Hall. 

7  p.m. — Service  in  Magdalene  Chapel,  with  Address. 

8  p.m. — Silent  Prayer  and  Meditation. 

9  p.m. — Supper. 
9.30  p.m. — Prayer. 

10  p.m. — Retire  for  the  night. 

Tuesday,  August  10. 

8  a.m. — Holy  Communion  in  the  Magdalene  Chapel. 

9  a.m. — Breakfast. 

10  a.m. — Morning  Prayer  in  the  Magdalene  Chapel. 
10.30  a.m. — Address,   followed   by  Silent    Prayer   and 

Meditation. 

i  p.m. — Dinner. 

1.45-3  p.m. — Free  time. 

3  p.m. — Address. 

4.15  p.m. — Service  in  the  Magdalene  Chapel. 

5.30  p.m. — Tea. 

6-7  p.m. — Free  time. 

7  p.m. — Service  in  the  Magdalene  Chapel,  with  Address. 

8  p.m. — Silent  Prayer  and  Meditation. 

9  p.m. — Supper. 
9.30  p.m. — Prayer. 

10  p.m. — Retire  for  the  night. 

Wednesday,  August  n. 

8  a.m. — Holy  Communion  in  the  Magdalene  Chapel. 

9  a.m. — Breakfast. 

10  a.m. — Morning  Prayer  in  the  Magdalene  Chapel. 


ARRANGEMENTS  FOR  RETREAT.  245 

10.30  a.m. — Address,  followed  by  Private  Prayer  and 
Meditation. 

i  p.m. — Dinner. 

1.45-3  P-m- — Free  time. 

3  p.m. — Address. 

4. 1 5  p.m. — Service  in  the  Magdalene  Chapel. 

5.30  p.m. — Tea. 

6-7  p.m. — Free  time. 

7  p.m. — Service  in  Magdalene  Chapel,  with  Address. 

8  p.m. — Silent  Prayer  and  Meditation. 

9  p.m. — Supper. 
9.30  p.m. — Prayer. 

10  p.m. — Retire  for  the  night. 

Thursday,  August  12. 

8  a.m. — Holy  Communion  in  the  Magdalene  Chapel. 

9  a.m. — Breakfast. 

10  a.m. — Morning  Prayer  in  the  Magdalene  Chapel. 
10.30  a.m. — Address. 

11  a.m. — Disperse. 

Each  clergyman  to  whom  this  paper  is  sent  is  par- 
ticularly requested  to  let  me  have  a  line  within  the  next 
ten  days,  to  say  whether  or  not  he  intends  to  be  present ; 
if  no  answer  is  received  by  that  time  it  will  be  assumed 
that  he  does  not  mean  to  come.  I  have  only  further  to 
entreat  the  prayers  of  my  Reverend  Brethren  that  a  bless- 
ing from  God  may  rest  on  this  proposed  gathering — that 
it  may  tend  to  God's  glory,  to  our  own  growth  in  grace t 
and  the  good  of  His  Church. 

It  is  expected  that  those  who  signify  their  intention 
to  be  present,  will  let  nothing  short  of  absolute  necessity 
prevent  them  from  coming. 

R.  RlPON. 

To  the  Reverend . 

In  the  other  branch  of  spiritual  work  to  which 
Dr.  Gott  refers,  my  father  took  the  warmest  interest. 
In  the  Charge  of  1876,  he  writes  of  Missions  : — 


246      LIFE    OF  BISHOP   ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

My  next  counsel  is  this.  Do  all  in  your  power  to  cul- 
tivate the  as  yet  unreclaimed  portion  of  the  field  committed 
to  your  care.  It  may  be  you  have  an  eager  and  crowded 
congregation.  You  cannot  be  too  earnest  or  prayerful  in 
dispensing  the  Word  of  Life  to  those  who  thus  wait  on 
your  ministry.  But  bear  in  mind  the  wandering,  and  as 
yet  unfolded  sheep.  Do  all  in  your  power  to  gather  them 
in.  Be  instant  in  season,  and  out  of  season  ;  testify  publicly, 
and  from  house  to  house,  as  did  the  Apostle.  Adapt  your 
ministrations  to  meet  their  special  need.  Multiply  services 
in  their  behalf.  Preach,  if  necessary,  and  if  strength  will 
allow,  in  the  open  air  ;  establish  Mission-rooms,  and  Missions 
for  them,  till  you  render  it  impossible  for  any  member  of 
your  flock  to  say  with  truth,  "  No  man  careth  for  my  soul." 
You  may  say  all  this  involves  expenditure.  So  it  does  ; 
but  I  believe  the  necessary  means  will  be  provided  for  the 
clergyman  who  is  evidently  fully  bent  on  making  full 
proof  of  his  ministry.  Missions  such  as  those  which  have 
been  held  in  so  many  places,  and  with  such  wonderful 
results,  are  invaluable  not  only  for  breaking  up  fallow 
ground,  but  also  for  quickening  spiritual  growth  in  those 
who  are  already  followers  of  Christ.  I  have  seen  results 
over  which  angels  in  heaven  rejoice,  follow  from  such  Mis- 
sions. It  is  not  all  passing  excitement ;  I  believe  some 
permanent  blessing  invariably  attends  a  carefully  prepared 
and  rightly  conducted  Mission.  Let  me  say  one  word  by 
way  of  caution,  and  it  is  this  :  Under  God  the  success  of  a 
Mission  such  as  I  am  recommending  depends  upon  the 
previous  preparation.  Months  of  preparatory  work  are  not 
too  much,  if  you  would  ensure  a  lasting  blessing.  I  have 
not  known  an  instance  in  which  such  preparation  was 
made,  and  the  simple  message  of  the  Gospel  has  been  the 
key-note  of  the  Mission,  where  a  visible  blessing  has  not 
followed. 

The  Bishop  took  an  active  personal  part  in 
special  Missions  in  Bradford  and  Huddersfield,  and 
in  the  great  Leeds  Mission  of  1875. 


PREPARATION  FOR   A   MISSION.  247 

In  a  very  interesting  account  of  the  Leeds 
Mission,  which  was  drawn  up  by  the  committee,  and 
published  by  Messrs.  Jackson,  is  to  be  found  a  fuller 
account  of  my  father's  special  work  to  which  Dr.  Gott 
alludes. 

There  had  been  long  and  thorough  preparation, 
and  almost  all  the  clergy  in  the  town  took  part  in 
the  movement.  Three  or  four  months  before  the 
Mission  my  father  met  the  clergy  in  the  parish 
church  for  a  day  of  special  preparation. 

At  1 1  a.m.  there  was  a  Celebration  of  the  Holy  Com- 
munion, and  the  Bishop  preached  from  2  Chron.  xxix.  36 : 
"And  Hezekiah  rejoiced,  and  all  the  people,  that  God  had 
prepared  the  people."  The  preacher,  after  expressing  his 
gladness  that  a  Mission  was  to  take  place,  and  his  pleasure 
at  being  invited  to  address  his  reverend  brethren  on  a  sub- 
ject of  such  importance  and  interest,  said — 

"  I  will  speak  to  you  with  regard  to — (i)  The  objects 
of  the  Mission ;  (2)  The  means  to  be  employed  to  secure 
its  success  ;  and  (3)  The  results  which  we  may  reasonably 
anticipate  from  the  Mission. 

"  i.  The  minister's  work  is  partly  pastoral,  partly  mis- 
sionary :  pastoral  as  regards  his  congregation  ;  missionary 
to  those  outside  who  seldom  or  never  come  to  the  House  of 
God,  and  who  are  careless  as  to  their  eternal  interests.  One 
great  object  of  the  Mission  is  to  bring  the  Gospel  message 
to  every  home  and  every  heart.  Another  object  of  the 
Mission  is  to  leave  the  beaten  track,  and  by  a  special  effort 
to  endeavour  to  arouse  the  members  of  our  congregations 
who  are  but  Christians  in  name,  to  rebuke  their  lethargy, 
to  raise  them  to  a  higher  spiritual  level. 

"  2.  There  can  be  no  success  to  the  Mission  unless  God 
the  Holy  Ghost  gives  spiritual  life.  In  dependence  on  His 
promised  aid  we  must — 

"  (i)  Recognise  the  magnitude  of  the  work  to  be  done. 
A  combine*!  attack  is  to  be  made  on  the  empire  of  Satan. 


248      LIFE    OF  BISHOP   ROBERT  BICKERSTETH, 

"  (2)  Examine  well  the  state  of  our  own  hearts.  We  who 
are  Christian  ministers  need  greater  zeal,  humility,  love  ; 
more  of  the  Mind  of  Christ. 

"(3)  Not  only  amongst  the  clergy,  but  amongst  the 
people  at  large  there  must  be  preparation  for  the  Mission. 
Sunday  school  teachers,  district  visitors,  tract  distributors, 
Church  workers,  should  pray  for  its  success,  speak  of  it  to 
others  ;  and  when  January  comes  take  part  in  it. 

"  (4)  In  the  Mission,  and  in  preparation  for  it,  Christ  and 
Christ  alone  must  be  exalted.  Let  there  be  no  divisions, 
no  party  feeling,  no  aim  lower  than  this — to  exalt  the 
Redeemer,  and  to  bring  souls  to  Christ. 

"  3.  If  God  gives  success,  as  I  trust  He  will,  we  may 
anticipate — 

"(i)  A  higher  standard  of  spirituality  amongst  our- 
selves. 

"  (2)  Greater  union. 

"  (3)  The  conversion  of  souls. 

"  (4)  Larger  congregations  and  growth  in  zeal  and 
holiness. 

"  (5)  An  increase  in  the  number  of  persons  who  openly 
profess  Christian  discipleship  by  presenting  themselves  for 
Confirmation. 

"  (6)  An  increase  in  the  number  of  Communicants. 

"  These  are  great  results.  They  have  accompanied  and 
followed  special  Missions  in  other  towns,  and  I  trust  they 
will  do  so  in  Leeds." 

When  the  Mission  began  in  January,  the  Bishop 
went  to  Leeds  for  ten  days,  and  his  time  was  fully 
occupied.  The  addresses  to  which  Dr.  Gott  alludes 
were  delivered  day  after  day  in  the  various  factories. 
Once  the  pulpit  was  an  enormous  Armstrong  gun, 
from  which  the  Bishop  addressed  a  workshop  densely 
crowded  with  foundry  men  fresh  from  their  work.  He 
thoroughly  enjoyed  these  services,  and  always  looked 
back  upon  them  with  the  deepest  thankfulness. 


BISHOP    WILKINSON  OF   TRURO.  249 

At  the  parish  church  the  chief  missioner  was 
Dr.  Wilkinson,  now  Bishop  of  Truro;  and  my  father 
greatly  valued  the  opportunity  of  making  the  ac- 
quaintance of  one  for  whom  he  conceived  a  sincere 
love  and  admiration. 

He  wrote  at  the  time,  speaking  of  Dr.  Wilkin- 
son's sermons  :— 

I  have  never  seen  the  parish  church  so  full  as  it  was 
last  night.  There  were  certainly  more  than  3000  present ; 
and  I  have  never  listened  to  a  more  thoroughly  clear, 
simple,  and  loving  statement  of  the  Gospel.  It  was  indeed 
a  glorious  sermon,  and  must  do  good.  The  people  were 
riveted  the  whole  time.  After  the  sermon  came  a  hymn, 
and  then  an  after-address.  The  service  began  at  7.30,  and 
was  not  over  till  nearly  10.  I  have  just  had  a  visit,  in  the 
morning-room  which  the  Gotts  have  kindly  given  up  to  me, 
from  Mr.  Wilkinson.  There  is  certainly  a  wonderful 
charm  about  him.  He  came  to  ask  my  advice  on  some 
points  connected  with  the  Mission,  and  to  ask  me  to  pray 
with  him.  .  .  . 

I  am  quite  well,  thank  God,  and  not  at  all  tired.  Some 
of  them  seem  amused  at  my  strength,  and  tell  me  I  must 
be  a  very  strong  man. 

As  the  value  of  Missions  becomes  more  widely 
known  and  felt,  there  may  be  improvement  in  the 
method  of  conducting  them  ;  but  there  can  hardly 
ever  again  be  such  a  Mission  as  the  one  in  Leeds,  in 
1875,  for  its  novelty  and  the  power  of  the  missioners 
engaged,  combined  to  make  a  profound  impression 
on  the  town. 

The  shops  were  shut  throughout  the  week  at  an 
early  hour,  and  the  busy  manufacturing  community 
seemed  stirred  to  its  very  depths. 

In  addition  to  the  addresses  in  workshops  and 


250        LIFE    OF  BISHOP    ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

sermons  to  special  classes  in  various  district  churches, 
the  Bishop  usually  presided  at  the  prayer  meeting 
which  was  held  daily  in  the  Church  Institute  from 
2.15  to  3. 

The  report  of  the  Mission  having  given  a  brief 
account  of  its  origin  and  history  goes  on  to  say — 

It  only  remains  to  ask — What  has  been  the  result  ? 
There  were  long  and  anxious  preparations  for  it ;  thought 
and  care  and  toil  were  expended  ;  prayers  were  offered  in 
family  circles,  in  churches,  in  schoolrooms,  in  sick  chambers, 
in  private  and  in  public — not  only  in  Leeds,  but  in  distant 
places.  It  was  known  that  during  the  Mission  Week  peti- 
tions were  publicly  offered  to  God  in  at  least  sixty  churches 
in  different  parts  of  the  world  ;  in  Cornwall  and  other  Eng- 
lish counties,  in  Scotland,  in  Ireland,  in  France,  in  India. 
Missioners  came  from  busy  towns  and  quiet  country 
parishes  ;  Church  workers  of  every  rank  toiled  and  prayed  ; 
crowded  meetings  and  crowded  churches  were  seen  on  every 
hand  ;  men  who  for  years  had  never  been  within  the  doors 
of  a  House  of  God,  and  who  at  first  seemed  utterly  at  a 
loss  what  to  do  when  there,  or  how  to  follow  the  service, 
were  found  night  after  night  listening  to  the  Gospel  Mes- 
sage. It  has  been  computed  that  during  the  Mission  about 
40,000  persons  were  at  one  and  the  same  time  listening  to 
the  Word  of  God. 

What  is  the  produce  of  the  vast  machinery  set  in 
motion  ?  With  so  much  sowing  of  the  good  seed,  is  there 
any  fruit  ? 

To  begin  with,  so  manifestly  had  the  Divine  Presence  and 
Blessing  been  felt  during  the  Mission  Week,  that  the  clergy, 
unknown  to  each  other,  announced  that  in  their  various 
churches,  a  special  Service  of  Thanksgiving  would  be  held. 
And  there  was  a  universal  feeling  amongst  the  missioners, 
parochial  clergy,  and  Church  workers,  that  there  should  be, 
for  themselves  specially,  a  United  Service  of  Praise  to  God 
for  His  goodness  to  them,  and  for  prospering  their  work. 


A    THANKSGIVING   SERVICE.  251 

This  last  took  place  on  Monday  morning,  February  I, 
in  the  parish  church.  It  consisted  of  the  Administration 
of  the  Holy  Communion,  and  sermon  by  the  Bishop  of 
Ripon,  from  Rev.  i.  5,  6  :  "  Unto  Him  that  loved  us,  and 
washed  us  from  our  sins  in  His  own  blood,  and  hath  made 
us  kings  and  priests  unto  God  and  His  Father ;  to  Him  be 
glory  and  dominion  for  ever  and  ever.  Amen." 

The  Bishop  said  :  "  We  meet  together  in  this  sacred 
place  to  offer  up  our  united  praises  and  thanksgiving  to 
God,  for  the  blessing  which  He  has  been  pleased  to  pour 
down  upon  the  Mission.  I  believe  very  few  of  us  fully 
anticipated  so  copious  a  shower  of  blessing  as  that  which 
has  been  received.  God  has  abundantly  answered  our 
prayers  :  He  has  been  better  to  us  than  our  fears.  Far 
be  it  from  me  to  use  the  language  of  exaggeration,  but  I 
think  on  reviewing  what  has  taken  place  during  the  last 
week,  I  am  not  mistaken  in  saying  that  this  large  and 
important  community  has  been  deeply  stirred.  There  has 
been  a  remarkable  unanimity  amongst  the  clergy  with 
respect  to  this  great  work.  With  very  few  exceptions,  the 
whole  body  of  the  clergy  of  Leeds  have  thrown  themselves 
into  it ;  and  I  learn,  with  the  deepest  satisfaction,  that 
through  all  the  preparatory  work  that  has  been  going  on 
for  months  with  respect  to  it,  there  has  not  been  one 
jarring  note  of  discord  ;  all  has  been  harmony ;  all  have 
been  of  one  mind. 

"  The  Mission  has  been  remarkably  characterised  by  the 
absence  of  every  kind  of  excess  and  of  undue  excitement. 
There  has  been  a  very  kind  and  generous  feeling  expressed 
on  behalf  of  the  Mission  by  all  classes  of  the  community. 
Even  those  who  do  not  belong  to  our  own  Church  have, 
nevertheless,  wished  God-speed  to  the  effort ;  and,  if  I  am 
rightly  informed,  in  the  chapels  of  some  of  our  Noncon- 
forming  brethren,  prayers  have  been  offered  that  God  would 
pour  down  His  abundant  grace  upon  this  great  effort  to  win 
souls  to  Christ.  Most  of  the  principal  firms  in  Leeds  have 
kindly  thrown  open  their  places  of  work,  to  allow  the 
preaching  of  the  Gospel  to  the  hands  whom  they  employ. 


252      LIFE    OF  BISHOP   ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

Those  opportunities  were  freely  accepted  by  the  men  for 
whose  benefit  they  were  intended.  Our  churches  have 
been  crowded  with  eager  and  attentive  listeners.  Many 
have  come  inquiring  about  their  soul's  salvation.  Many 
have  been  anxious  who  were  never  anxious  before  about 
their  spiritual  state  ;  and  can  we  for  a  moment  doubt  that 
many,  through  God's  grace,  have  been  brought  to  Jesus, 
and  have  found  joy  and  peace  in  believing,  and  that  a 
fresh  anthem  of  praise  has  resounded  through  the  courts 
of  Heaven,  over  many  a  returning  sinner  brought  to  God, 
instrumentally  through  this  Mission  ?  .  .  .  .  On  the  review 
of  the  Mission,  the  first  feeling  which  ought  to  be  uppermost 
in  our  minds  is  one  of  profound  humility.  All  the  success 
of  a  Mission  like  this  is  of  God,  and  not  of  man.  It  is  not 
man's  eloquence,  nor  man's  imagination,  nor  any  gifts  which 
God  may  have  granted  to  any  to  possess  ;  but  if  there  is 
any  success,  as  we  doubt  not  there  has  been,  "  Not  unto 
us,  O  Lord,  not  unto  us,  but  unto  Thy  Name  give  the 
praise."  The  next  feeling  we  ought  to  cherish  is  one  of 
greater  personal  devotedness  to  our  Blessed  Lord  and 
Master.  Every  one  who  takes  any  part  in  Missions  ought 
to  look  for  an  increase  of  spiritual  grace  in  his  own  soul. 
We  should  also,  on  reviewing  the  Mission,  cherish  a  feeling 
of  greater  earnestness  than  ever  in  seeking  the  salvation  of 
souls  around  us.  Let  us  bind  ourselves  on  this,  the  day 
of  our  thanksgiving,  that  we  will,  with  redoubled  energy, 
devote  ourselves  to  the  work  of  trying  to  bring  poor 
wandering  sinners  to  the  feet  of  Christ." 

The  service  closed  most  appropriately  with  singing  the 
Te  Deum. 

The  Bishop  had  the  best  means  of  judging  of  the 
success  of  the  Mission,  for  he  found  a  very  great 
increase  in  the  number  of  Confirmation  candidates, 
especially  in  the  case  of  adults,  who  were  brought 
into  the  Church  chiefly  through  the  special  efforts 
which  were  then  put  forth. 


LEEDS  MISSION  OF  1883.  253 

When  the  time  came  round  for  another  Mission 
in  Leeds,  in  1883,  my  father  was  no  longer  able  to 
take  a  personal  share  in  the  work,  but  he  wrote 
the  following  Pastoral,  and  prayerfully  watched  its 
progress  :— 

On  behalf  of  this  Mission,  the  Bishop  of  the  diocese 
earnestly  invites  the  co-operation,  and  bespeaks  the  cordial 
sympathy  of  all  classes.  The  object  at  which  we  aim  is 
to  uproot  the  seeds  of  vice  and  immorality,  to  check  the 
growth  of  infidelity,  to  advance  the  cause  of  pure  and 
undefiled  religion,  and  to  raise  the  standard  of  vital  godli- 
ness in  the  heart  and  life  of  professing  Christians.  In  the 
midst  of  this  vast  and  overwhelming  population,  notwith- 
standing its  many  churches,  chapels,  schools,  teachers  of 
religion,  and  multiplied  agencies  for  the  spread  of  living 
Christianity,  we  are  surrounded  by  tens  of  thousands  who 
are  living  without  God  in  the  world,  without  care  for  their 
eternal  welfare,  ignorant  of  Christ  and  His  blessed  Gospel, 
with  no  thought  for  their  souls,  for  Heaven  or  for  Hell,  for 
God  or  for  the  Judgment  to  come.  Is  it  not  a  duty  to 
endeavour  to  rouse  such  persons  to  a  sense  of  their  peril, 
and  to  prevail  with  them  to  ask  the  question,  "  What  must 
I  do  to  be  saved  ?  "  They  are  not  reached  by  the  ordinary 
means  of  grace  ; — the  Sabbath  bell  in  vain  calls  them  to  the 
house  of  prayer  ;  all  its  many  opportunites  for  religious 
instruction  are  for  them  provided  in  vain.  May  we  not 
hope  to  reach  them  by  special  efforts  on  their  behalf? 
Such  efforts  have  been  tried  and  proved  effectual.  They 
were  tried  in  this  town  some  eight  years  ago,  with  results 
which  astonished  many,  and  put  to  shame  the  unbelief  of 
thousands  who  doubted  the  effect  which  may  be  expected 
to  accompany  such  an  attempt,  made  in  reliance  on  the 
living  power  of  God  the  Holy  Ghost  The  clergy  of  this 
town,  charged  with  the  duty  of  watching  for  souls,  have 
determined,  after  much  thought  and  prayer,  to  repeat  the 
effort.  We  will  undertake  it  in  dependence  on  Divine 


254      LIFE    OF  BISHOP   ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

strength,  and  in  reliance  on  Divine  direction.  To  convert, 
or  to  save  the  soul,  is  not  in  the  power  of  man ;  but  the 
power  of  God  is  made  effectual  in  connection  with  the  use 
of  appointed  means.  Earnest,  believing  prayer,  the  ministry 
of  the  Word,  heart-stirring  appeals  to  the  conscience,  the 
faithful  delivery  of  the  messages  of  the  Gospel,  telling  of 
the  love  of  Jesus,  of  His  ability  and  willingness  to  save  to  the 
uttermost  all  who  come  unto  God  by  Him, — these  are  the 
means  which  have  not  lost  their  efficacy  ;  under  their  faith- 
ful use  strong  hearts  have  been  broken,  souls  dead  in  tres- 
passes and  sins  have  been  quickened  by  the  power  of  Divine 
grace,  drunkards  have  been  reformed,  unchaste  lives  have 
been  purified,  evil  habits  have  been  renounced,  peace  and 
purity,  holiness  and  happiness,  have  shed  their  moral  fra- 
grance, where  all  was  formerly  strife  and  misery  and  sin.  I 
ask  you  to  unite  in  this  special  effort,  from  which  we  con- 
fidently anticipate  many  spiritual  blessings.  Among  them, 
not  the  least  will  be  a  growth  of  spiritual  life,  zeal,  and 

fervour  among  the  professing  disciples  of  Christ To 

your  fervent  prayers  I  commend  this  Mission,  and  may  it 
please  Almighty  God  to  grant  that,  in  answer  to  our  sup- 
plications and  united  efforts,  there  may  be  poured  down 
copious  showers  of  blessing. 

Passing  from  the  subject  of  Retreats  and  Missions 
to  another  important  event  in  my  father's  episcopate, 
I  am  greatly  indebted  to  the  kindness  of  Canon 
Temple,  who  has  written  an  account  of  his  work,  as 
President  of  the  Church  Congress  held  at  Leeds  in 
1872,  and  also  of  the  formation  of  the  Diocesan  Con- 
ference, which  was  summoned  to  meet  for  the  first 
time  in  1878. 

Canon  Temple  writes  : — 

.     Leeds  Church  Congress,  -1872. 

In  the  minute  book  of  the  Nottingham  Church  Con- 
gress, which  now  lies  before  me,  is  found  the  following 
statement : — 


CHURCH  CONGRESS  AT  LEEDS.  255 

"  At  a  meeting  of  the  Executive  Committee,  held  after 
the  Congress  Morning  Session,  on  October  14,  1871,  the 
Bishop  Suffragan  in  the  chair,  Archdeacon  Emery  read  a 
letter,  signed  by  Dr.  Woodford,  of  Leeds,  and  others,  in- 
viting the  Congress  to  hold  its  next  meeting  in  that  town. 

"Archdeacon  Trollope  moved,  Rev.  G.  Venables 
seconded,  and  it  was  resolved, — 'That  the  next  meeting 
take  place  at  Leeds.'  " 

This  is  the  first  indication  given  of  an  event  which 
was  fraught  with  important  consequences  to  the  Church 
in  the  diocese  of  Ripon,  namely,  the  meeting  of  that 
Church  Congress  in  which  Bishop  Bickersteth  played  so 
important  a  part,  first  as  its  chief  promoter,  and  afterwards 
as  its  president.  In  November,  1871,  the  first  meetings 
were  held  to  prepare  for  the  coming  work.  In  spite  of 
some  little  difficulties  raised  at  these  early  meetings,  a 
spirit  of  harmony  and  energetic  co-operation  very  quickly 
became  the  distinguishing  mark  of  all  that  was  done.  That 
this  was  so,  every  one  felt  was  due  in  large  measure  to  the 
tact  and  courtesy  of  the  Bishop,  and  perhaps  not  less  than 
this  to  the  firm  resolution  which  he  evinced  at  an  early 
stage  of  the  proceedings,  as  one  of  the  General  Committee 
phrased  it,  "  to  drive  the  coach  himself." 

The  difficult  and  laborious  work  of  presiding,  so  far  as 
one  man  could  do  it,  over  the  deliberations  of  the  Congress 
as  a  whole,  was  accomplished  by  Bishop  Bickersteth  at 
once  with  distinguished  ability  and  with  transparent  fair- 
ness. These  qualities  were  exhibited  repeatedly  in  the 
course  of  the  discussions,  and  very  notably  during  one 
rather  painful  scene,  at  which  strong  words  were  used  by 
some  members  of  the  Congress,  while  the  President  seemed 
to  be  confronted  at  the  moment  by  a  brother  prelate  of 
the  very  highest  mark  in  the  Church,  and  of  standing  con- 
siderably senior  to  his  own. 

The  ideal  which  the  Bishop  set  before  himself  of  the 
proper  functions  of  a  Church  Congress,  was  well  sketched 
in  his  inaugural  address.  "  We  do  not  meet,"  he  said,  "  as 
a  Church  Congress  to  discuss  the  grand  fundamentals  of 


256      LIFE    OF  BISHOP   ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

the  everlasting  Gospel.  There  are  no  fresh  discoveries  to 
be  made  in  what  is  to  be  received  as  fundamental  truth  : 
we  have  neither  to  report  nor  to  investigate  any  new  de- 
velopments of  the  Faith  which  was  once  delivered  to  the 
Saints.  .  .  .  These  organic  doctrines  of  Christianity  lie 
beyond  the  province  of  debate  by  this  assembly.  But 
there  is  an  ever-widening  field  for  discussion  upon  matters 
of  supreme  importance  to  the  efficiency  of  the  Church,  and 
the  adaptation  of  her  machinery  to  the  shifting  require- 
ments of  the  age  in  which  we  live.  A  state  of  great  activity 
is  a  marked  feature  of  the  Church  at  the  present  day.  The 
torpor  of  a  past  age  has  given  place  to  an  awakened  energy 
and  zeal,  which,  if  rightly  directed,  may  lead  to  the  most 
beneficial  results.  We  are  learning  by  degrees  the  need 
of  greater  elasticity  and  freedom  in  our  Church  system.  I 
suppose  that  most  men  now  recognise  the  necessity, — if 
the  National  Church  is  to  retain,  or,  speaking  more  cor- 
rectly, if  she  is  to  recover  her  influence  over  large  masses 
of  our  fellow-countrymen, — that  she  should  be  emancipated 
to  some  extent  from  those  rigid  and  unyielding  bands  of 
uniformity,  which  have  too  often  tended  rather  to  impede 
than  to  further  the  Church's  progress. 

"  In  such  a  period  of  reawakened  activity,  conference  is 
of  inestimable  value.  A  hundred  problems  are  sure  to 
arise,  as  indeed  they  have  arisen,  for  the  wise  solution  of 
which  nothing  is  more  to  be  desired  than  the  calm  delibera- 
tion of  thoughtful  minds,  and  the  contributions  of  expe- 
rience which  may  be  imparted  by  those  who  have  tried, 
each  in  his  own  sphere  and  in  his  own  method,  to  work 
out  the  problems  which  the  circumstances  of  the  Church 
and  the  age  force  on  our  notice.  Problems,  for  example, 
such  as  these  : — how  to  win  back  the  multitudes  who,  from 
whatever  cause,  have  become  estranged  from  our  Com- 
munion, or,  what  is  far  worse,  estranged  from  Christianity 
itself;  how  to  adapt  the  ministrations  of  the  Church  so 
as  to  reach  the  largest  number,  and  to  convey  the  fullest 
measure  of  spiritual  blessing  ;  how  to  utilise  to  the  utmost 
the  services  of  the  lay  members  of  the  Church,  without 


INAUGURAL   ADDRESS.  257 

trenching  upon  the  province  which  is  peculiar  to  an 
Ordained  Ministry ;  how  to  counteract  the  tendencies  of 
the  age,  whether  towards  scepticism  in  one  direction,  or 
towards  superstition  in  another ;  how,  without  the  smallest 
surrender  of  essential  truth,  to  cultivate  brotherly  union 
between  all  who  profess  to  be  followers  of  the  same  Divine 
Saviour;  how  to  preserve  the  distinction  between  funda- 
mental truth,  which  we  must  dte  rather  than  compromise, 
and  that  which,  though  equally  true,  is  not  equally  impor- 
tant, and  about  which  we  may  safely  agree  to  differ  till  the 
prayer  of  our  Divine  Lord  is  accomplished,  '  that  they  all 
may  be  one ;  as  Thou,  Father,  art  in  Me,  and  I  in  Thee, 
that  they  also  may  be  one  in  Us :  that  the  world  may 
believe  that  Thou  hast  sent  Me.' " 

The  Bishop  then  proceeded  to  give,  as  the  Committee 
had  requested  him  to  do,  a  most  interesting  account  of 
Church  work  in  the  Diocese  of  Ripon  since  its  reconstitu- 
tion  in  the  year  1836.  The  substance  of  this  part  of  his 
address  has  already  been  quoted  from  the  Bishop's  tribute 
to  his  predecessor  in  his  first  Charge.  He  went  on  to 
say— 

"  The  expansion  of  the  Church,  and  the  hold  which  it 
has  upon  the  affection  of  the  people,  may  fairly  be  tested 
in  a  diocese  like  this  by  the  erection  of  new  churches,  by 
the  number  of  candidates  who  offer  themselves  for  Con- 
firmation, and  by  the  voluntary  contributions  in  aid  of 
Church  purposes. 

"Applying,  then,  these  three  tests  to  the  question  of 
Church  progress  in  the  diocese,  the  following  are  the  con- 
clusions arrived  at : — 

"  In  the  five  years  which  preceded  the  formation  of  the 
See  of  Ripon  in  1836,  the  number  of  churches  consecrated 
within  the  limits  of  the  present  diocese  was  exactly  four. 
In  the  five  years  which  immediately  followed  the  constitu- 
tion of  the  See  in  1836,  the  number  of  churches  consecrated 
was  thirty-three.  In  the  five  years  ending  with  the  present, 
the  number  of  churches  consecrated  is  forty-two. 

"  I  have  not  any  lists  of  the  candidates  who  were  con- 

S 


258      LIFE   OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

firmed  during  the  episcopate  of  Bishop  Longley.  But  the 
number  of  those  who  were  confirmed  in  the  five  years, 
from  1856  to  1861,  was  19,086;  and  the  number  con- 
firmed in  the  five  years  terminating  with  the  present  is 
29,776. 

"  I  have  no  means  of  ascertaining  how  much  was  raised 
in  the  diocese  for  Church  purposes  at  an  earlier  date ;  but 
I  have  exact  returns  for  the  three  years  ending  with  1866, 
and  the  three  years  ending  with  1869. 

"  In  the  first  of  these  triennial  periods  the  diocese  raised 
for  Church  purposes  £308,565  ;  in  the  second  triennial 
period  it  raised  £330,215  ;  making  a  total  in  six  years  of 
£638,780,  which  may  be  regarded  as  the  free-will  offering 
of  new  members  in  furtherance  of  the  work  of  the  Church 
within  this  diocese.  These  figures  do  not  include  the 
contributions  which  have  been  given  in  aid  of  the  Church 
extension  beyond  the  limits  of  the  diocese. 

"  These  are  facts  from  which  I  augur  hopefully  for  the 
progress  of  the  Church,  not  here  only,  but  throughout  the 
length  and  breadth  of  the  land.  They  are  not  solitary 
facts  ;  other  dioceses  might,  I  doubt  not,  furnish  a  parallel. 
But  these  facts  speak  for  themselves  ;  they  tell  of  a  depth 
of  attachment  to  the  National  Church,  of  an  amount  of 
zeal  and  liberality  which  must  spring  from  a  deep  con- 
viction that  the  National  Church  is  a  national  blessing  ; 
that,  notwithstanding  all  her  faults  and  all  her  short- 
comings, she  is  a  witness  for  God  and  for  truth  in  the 
land  ;  a  bulwark  of  the  throne  and  the  constitution  ;  a  tree 
planted  in  our  midst,  whose  leaves  are  for  the  healing  of 
the  nation.  .  .  ." 

After  pleading  once  more  for  a  spirit  of  charity  and 
mutual  forbearance,  the  Bishop  concluded  by  making  the 
following  suggestion,  which  was  adopted  with  enthusiasm 
at  the  time,  and  has  been  a  characteristic  feature  of  each 
subsequent  Congress  : — 

"  One  word  more.  We  commenced  our  proceedings  by 
an  act  of  worship — of  prayer  and  praise.  I  think  it  is 
meet  that  a  Church  Congress  should  also  commence  its 


WORKING  MEWS  MEETING.  259 

proceedings  with  an  act  of  faith,  by  showing  to  the  whole 
world  that  we  cling  fast  to  apostolic  truth.  I  therefore 
invite  this  vast  assembly  to  rise  as  one  man,  and  recite 
with  me  the  Apostles'  Creed." 

With  the  exception  of  his  inaugural  address,  and  such 
little  interpositions  as  every  chairman  of  a  great  meeting 
has  to  exercise  in  preserving  order,  the  President  only 
made  three  speeches :  one  at  the  Working  Men's  Meeting, 
and  others,  very  short  ones,  at  the  meeting  on  Friday 
morning,  about  the  Deepening  of  Spiritual  Life,  and  at 
the  final  meeting.  The  first  of  these  three  meetings  is 
somewhat  more  than  historical.  All  readers  of  the  "  Life 
of  Bishop  Wilberforce  "  are  familiar  with  the  exceedingly 
graphic  letter  written  by  that  able  prelate  from  the  Con- 
gress Hall  to  the  Rev.  Hugh  Pearson,  in  which  he  criticises 
fearlessly  some,  and  applauds  with  discrimination  others 
of  the  utterances  which  fell  from  the  lips  of  those  around 
him.  I  venture  to  quote  the  concluding  passages  of  that 
famous  letter :  "Now  old  Woodford  speaks ;  he  has  been 
rapturously  received  and  is  speaking  excellently  well.  Of 
the  old  Church.  The  Church  of  England,  not  an  aristo- 
cratic Church  (very  fine :  in  his  best  mode).  An  analysis 
of  the  real  religious  state  of  the  town,  lightly  but  very 
effectively  done.  Why  do  respectable  working  men  not 
worship  ?  '  Talk  it  out,  sift  it,  weigh  it,  twist  it,  and  then 
come  and  tell  us  what  we  can  do  to  take  stones  out  of 
your  path  and  make  the  way  easier  to  you  :  and  do  what 
you  can  to  bring  others  with  you.  You  can  do  what  we 
cannot.  You  can  pass  thresholds  we  cannot  cross,'  etc. 
He  has  ended  excellently,  in  great  applause.  Bishop  of 
Ripon  before  closing,  wishes  to  say  a  word.  Universal 
interest  in  the  Congress,  shared  by  Nonconformists,  in- 
cluding our  chief  civil  magistrate :  the  Mayor  (applause). 
(He  gave  us  turtle  soup  to  day).  He  watches  for  the  welfare 
of  the  good  old  Church  of  England,  and  he  may  speak 
to-night,  and  so  he  rises  (stupendous  applause),  speaks 
sensibly  and  well.  The  clock  strikes  ten,  and  we  break  up 
in  search  of  horizontality." 


260      LIFE   OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

The  Leeds  Church  Congress  far  exceeded  in  the 
number  of  its  members  all  similar  gatherings  which  had 
taken  place  up  kto  that  date.  And  though  the  numbers 
have  been  larger  at  some  later  assemblies,  it  may  be 
doubted  whether,  on  the  whole,  any  other  of  these  meetings 
has  exercised  a  more  permanent  influence  for  good,  either 
on  the  particular  place  in  which  it  has  been  held,  or  on 
the  Church  at  large. 

If  this  be  so,  all  who  like  the  present  writer  witnessed 
the  great  effort  from  beginning  to  end,  will  recognise  that, 
second  only  to  God's  gracious  guidance,  the  result  was 
due  to  the  courtesy,  dignity,  firmrfess,  and  ability  of  the 
President.  They  will  gladly  echo  the  words  of  Canon 
Bernard  :  "  We  are  of  one  mind  about  the  presidency, 
because  we  have  all  felt  the  impartiality  and  decision 
which  has  kept  all  things  in  perfect  Christian  peace,  when 
from  the  nature  of  the  subjects  discussed,  and  the  variety 
of  opinions  represented  by  those  who  have  attended  the 
Congress,  we  might  have  expected  a  very  different  result. 
We  have  all  felt,  and  we  now  acknowledge,  the  courtesy, 
the  judgment,  the  composure  of  voice  and  manner  which 
have  seemed  to  diffuse  their  own  influence  over  the  minds 
of  this  vast  assembly." 

It  is  true  that  some  of  these  expressions  may  seem  now 
a  little  in  excess  of  what  the  case  demands,  but  it  must 
be  remembered  that  the  present  orderly  and  forbearing 
attitude  of  the  Church  Congress  has  been  a  matter  of 
growth,  and  that  the  full  expression  of  feeling  and  of 
thought  which  is  so  easily  tolerated  now  presented  in 
earlier  days  a  front  of  difficulty  which  only  a  really  strong 
President  was  properly  qualified  to  face. 

Amongst  the  many  happy  recollections  of  the 
Congress  was  the  friendship  which  my  father  formed 
with  the  saintly  Bishop  Forbes.  One  who  was 
present  wrote — 

I  walked  with  the  Bishop  out  of  the  hall  where  the 


BISHOP  FORBES   OF  BRECHIN.  261 

Bishop  of  Brechin  read  his  deeply  searching  paper,  "  On 
the  Deepening  of  the  Spiritual  Life,"  and  I  remember 
him  saying  with  deep  emotion,  how  much  he  had  gained 
from  the  paper,  and  how  "  his  heart  yearned  to  know  more 
of  the  reader." 

That  the  feeling  was  reciprocal,  was  shown  by 
the  dedication  which  the  Bishop  of  Brechin  prefixed 
to  his  paper  in  its  final  form — 

TO   THE  RIGHT   REVEREND 

ROBERT, 

BY  DIVINE  PERMISSION,   BISHOP  OF  RIPON, 
IN  WHOSE   PRESENCE  THE  GERM  OF 

THIS  LITTLE  TREATISE 
WAS   READ,  AT  THE  LEEDS  CHURCH  CONGRESS, 

OVER  WHICH  HE  PRESIDED 
WITH  GRACE,  DIGNITY,  AND  JUSTICE, 

THIS  IS 
INSCRIBED. 

Canon  Temple  has  been  good  enough  to  add  to 
his  most  interesting  account  of  the  Church  Congress 
a  sketch  of  the  causes  which  led  to  the  formation  of 
the  Ripon  Diocesan  Conference,  and  the  part  which 
my  father  took  in  its  early  organisation.  The  Bishop 
was  so  much  more  a  man  of  action  than  of  mere 
speech,  that  he  was  inclined  to'  hold  back  until  he 
saw  that  the  Conference  was  really  desired  by 
clergy  and  laity  alike,  and  would  be  likely  to  prove 
of  real  advantage  in  the  practical  working  of  diocesan 
institutions.  Canon  Temple  was  one  of  those  whose 
judgment  influenced  my  father  in  the  matter,  so  it 
is  interesting  to  hear  from  him  how  the  movement 
grew  :— 


262       LIFE    OF  BISHOP   ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 


Ripon  Diocesan  Conference,  1878. 

The  quickening  of  Church  life,  so  far  as  that  is  syno- 
nymous with  spiritual  life  in  the  heart  of  each  separate 
Christian,  may  be  regarded  as   God's  special  gift  to  this 
nation  at  the  close  of  the  last,  and  the  beginning  of  the 
present   century.      The  Saviour,  of  ^course,  in  every  part 
of  Christendom   has  always  had    His  chosen  ones,  whose 
lives  of  battle  with  the  enemy,  and  rest  in  the  Lord,  have 
been  a  perpetual  witness  to  Himself  in   the   face  of  an 
unbelieving  world.     But  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  the 
great  Evangelical  Movement,  which  may  be  considered  to 
date  from  the  days  of  Wesley,,  was  a  marvellous  expansion 
of  life  such  as  had  known  but  a  sickly  and  stunted  existence 
since  the  days  of  the  Restoration  of  Charles  the  Second. 
In  like  manner,  God's  gift  to  our   own  day  has  been  a 
quickening  of  the  Church's  corporate  life.     And  this  has 
brought  in  its  train  a  certain  Catholic  feeling  and  a  yearning 
for  communion,  alike  of  Christian  with  Christian  and  of 
Church  with   Church,  which   could  not  be  repressed,  and 
which  refused   to    satisfy  itself  with    the  conviction  that 
individual  salvation  was  the  Christian's  sole  or  noblest  aim. 
If  the    Master  had  founded  a   Church,   had   called    that 
Church    His    Body,  had    furnished   it  with  limbs  and   an 
organic  constitution,  it  could  not  be  safe  for  Christians  to 
ignore  such  a  fact  in  their  approaches  to  the  Most  High. 
Such  conduct  was  not  only  a  waste   of  power,  it  was  a 
sapping  of  the  springs  of  life.     And  so  within  the  Church 
of  England,  at   any  rate,  there  sprang   up  a  desire   that 
Churchmen  should  know  their  own  minds  and  the  minds 
of  their  brethren,  and  that  the  united  body  should  be  able 
to  speak  with  some  approach  to  the  confidence  of  those 
who  dared  of  old  to  say,  "  It  seemed  good  to  the  Holy 
Ghost  and  to  us."    This  has  shown  itself  in  the  constitution, 
or  reconstitution,  of  Church  Assemblies,  some  formal,  some 
informal,  and  notably  in  the  revival  of  Convocation  ;  in  the 
invention  of  that  very  molluscous,  but  most  useful  assembly, 
the    Church  Congress  ;  and,  as  a  sort  of  combination  of 


DIOCESAN  CONFERENCE.  263 

these,  more   popular  but   less   regular   than  Convocation, 
more  regular  but  less  popular  than  the  Congress,  in  the 
gathering  of  the  Diocesan  Conference.     The  first  of  these 
last-named  assemblies    had    been  held   in  the  diocese  of 
Ely,  wherein  also  the  Church  Congress  had  first  seen  the 
light.     It  was  impossible  that  a  mind  like  that  of  Bishop 
Bickersteth  could  miss  reading  the  signs  of  the  times  with 
reference  to  this  subject ;  and  so  early  as  the  year  1870,  at 
his  Visitation   held    in  Leeds,  he  had  convoked,  without 
formal  election,  but  by  personal  invitation  from  himself, 
a  sort  of  Conference,  which  discussed  various  important 
subjects,  especially  Foreign  Missions  and  National  Educa- 
tion,  with    considerable   freedom,   and    not,    it   is   hoped, 
without  edification.     This  Conference  sat  on  two  days,  viz. 
the  tenth  and  eleventh  of  October.     The  writer  does  not 
remember  that   it   passed   any   formal   resolutions.      The 
proceeding  was  altogether  tentative,  and  it  seems  to  have 
been  an  experiment  founded  on  a  discussion  held  in  the 
Palace   at   the   meeting   of    rural    deans    in    1868.      The 
subject   ripened    in    the   Bishop's   mind,    and  in    1876  he 
threw  the  question  out  openly  before  the  clergy  at  each 
Visitation  call,  "  Is  it  desirable  or  not  to  hold  a  Diocesan 
Conference  ?  "  An  answer  in  the  affirmative  was  all  but 
unanimous.     With  the  help  of  his  archdeacons  and  rural 
deans,   the   Bishop   sketched    the   form   of    a   provisional 
constituency.     Certain  persons  became  members  ex  officio, 
a  few  were  allowed  to  be  nominated  by  the  Bishop,  and 
the    above-named    provisional    constituency    elected    the 
remainder.      The  Conference  so  constituted   met  for  the 
first  time  in  Leeds  on  the  tenth  of  October,  1878  ;  and  its 
first  business,  after  the  President's  preliminary  address,  was 
to  take  into  consideration   its  own   constitution.     In  .the 
inaugural  address  the  Bishop  explained  very  lucidly  and 
distinctly  the  raison  d'etre  of  the  Conference,  and  gave  an 
historical  account  of  how  it  came  to  be  assembled.     He 
well  pointed  out  that  though,  unlike  the  Church  Congress, 
it  could  formulate  decisions   and  frame  resolutions,  it  yet 
was  not  a  synod,  and  could  not  legislate  in  any  sense  what- 


264      LIFE    OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

ever.  It  could  embody  the  collective  opinion  of  a  diocese, 
but  it  could  do  no  more.  Yet,  doing  so  much  and  no 
more,  it  might  be  the  spring  of  a  great  deal  of  practical 
work.  Separate  parishes  would  be  likely  to  act  upon  its 
suggestions.  Church  Defence  might  almost  take  a  new 
departure  from  its  support.  Unworthy  prejudice  might 
vanish  before  it,  as  mist  before  the  sunshine.  It  might 
excellently  well  handle  such  subjects  as  Diocesan  Organisa- 
tion and  Diocesan  Finance.  It  might  prove  the  possibility 
of  Churchmen  meeting  together  to  discuss  the  highest 
interests  of  the  Church  ;  and  might  demonstrate  that 
differences  of  opinion  upon  some  points  did  not  render  men 
unfit  to  consult  together  with  profit  and  edification  upon  all. 

Under  the  direction  of  its  President,  the  Conference 
had  sufficient  wisdom  to  avoid  spending  too  much  time 
on  its  own  formation  and  order  of  proceeding,  when  it  was 
of  the  first  importance  to  show  that  it  knew  how  to  pro- 
ceed. Accordingly,  it  very  quickly  began  a  spirited  debate 
on  the  subject  of  Diocesan  Organisation  and  Finance, 
including  Diocesan  Societies.  This  led  to  the  formation 
of  a  Lay  Committee,  and  the  drawing  up  of  a  Report  which 
it  is  hoped  may  yet  some  day  bear  fruit,  such  as  has  been 
borne  by  similar  action  in  other  dioceses. 

Among  the  various  subjects  discussed  at  the  Confer- 
ence, that  one  on  which,  at  the  present  time,  our  readers 
will  most  desire  to  have  the  late  Bishop's  opinion  is  un- 
doubtedly the  division  of  the  diocese,  and  the  formation 
of  a  new  See  within  its  area.  His  remarks  were  as 
follows  : — 

"The  question  before  the  Conference  was  not  one 
directly  how  to  raise  funds  in  order  to  set  on  foot  the  new 
bishopric  ;  but  the  object  of  the  resolution  was  simply  to 
express  general  approbation  of  the  Act  which,  though 
permissive,  empowered  the  constitution  of  a  new  bishopric 
for  Yorkshire,  provided  the  funds  for  so  doing  were  raised. 
When  the  great  meeting  to  which  reference  had  been  made 
was  convened,  the  simple  fact  that  a  Diocesan  Conference 
had  pronounced  an  opinion  in  favour  of  the  formation  of 


DIVISION  OF   THE  DIOCESE.  265 

the  new  bishopric  would  be  of  great  advantage,  and  would 
stimulate  the  generosity  of  churchmen.  The  measure  was 
one  in  which  he  felt  the  deepest  interest.  He  could  not 
but  have  mingled  feelings  with  regard  to  it :  and  when  he 
looked  to  that  large  belt  of  the  diocese  which  it  was  pro- 
posed to  sever  from  the  existing  diocese,  and  when  he 
recalled  the  many  happy  hours  he  had  spent  in  that  part 
of  the  diocese,  and  the  many  friendships  he  had  formed 
there,  which  he  trusted  would  never  be  severed  :  and  when 
he  recalled  the  happy  intercourse  he  had  had  with  his 
brethren,  the  clergy,  and  how  he  had  rejoiced  in  seeing 
their  work, — he  could  tell  them  if  he  gave  way  to  selfish 
feelings  only,  he  should  deprecate  the  formation  of  the  new 
bishopric.  But,  in  a  matter  of  this  kind,  which  affected 
the  interests  of  the  whole  Church,  all  private  feeling  must 
give  way.  He  wished  to  bury  private  feeling  in  the  matter, 
and  to  consult  only  that  which  might  promote  the  glory 
of  God  and  the  good  of  the  Church  :  and  he  believed  the 
time  had  come  when  the  creation  of  a  new  diocese  in 
Yorkshire  would  be  for  the  glory  of  God  and  for  the 
advantage  of  the  Church.  Since  the  diocese  of  Ripon 
was  constituted,  forty  years  ago,  one  new  church  had  been 
consecrated  and  made  the  centre  of  a  new  district  once 
every  two  months.  That  work  was  not  at  a  standstill. 
Last  year  he  consecrated  nine  new  churches ;  and  before 
the  close  of  the  present  year  he  expected  the  number  would 
be  eight ;  so  that  there  was  no  diminution  of  zeal  on  the 
part  of  the  Church  of  England  to  meet  the  spiritual  wants 
of  the  diocese. 

"  It  must,  therefore,  be  patent  to  every  one  that  such  an 
increase  in  the  number  of  new  churches  in  the  diocese 
must  very  considerably  multiply  the  labours  of  the  Church. 
The  question  then  arose,  could  a  bishop  adequately  dis- 
charge those  labours  if  the  number  of  new  parishes  was 
utterly  beyond  his  power  efficiently  to  superintend  ?  Upon 
considerations  like  these — and  he  would  not  detain  them 
by  referring  to  other  facts  leading  to  the  same  conclusion — 
the  time  had  arrived  for  the  subdivision  of  the  diocese. 


266       LIFE   OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

He  did  not  originate  the  scheme  ;  he  should  not  have 
thought  it  his  duty  to  have  come  forward  to  propose  such 
subdivision.  But  when  he  found  some  most  earnest 
churchmen  in  the  diocese,  and  some  of  his  warmest  friends, 
coming  forward  to  propose  the  scheme,  he  could  not  but 
say  that  they  had  his  hearty  good  will,  and  that  he  would 
give  them  every  assistance  in  his  power.  He  would  say 
further,  that  he  did  not  contemplate  the  carrying  out  of 
the  scheme  as  likely  palpably  to  effect  any  diminution 
of  his  work.  He  did  not  wish  to  lead  an  idle  life.  He 
might  almost  adopt  the  words  of  Dr.  Hook  on  leaving 
Leeds,  on  going  to  what  some  considered  a  position  of 
repose.  Dr.  Hook  said,  '  I  don't  mean  to  go  to  Chichester 
to  be  idle ;  if  I  don't  find  work  there,  I  will  make  it.'  A 
large  portion  of  the  West  Riding,  with  its  large  towns,  and 
its  incessant  temptations  to  work,  might  be  taken  away 
from  him  ;  but  he  could  find  work  in  other  parts  of  the 
diocese,  and  God  helping  him,  he  might  find  enough  to 
do,  and  perhaps  more  than  he  was  able  to  accomplish  in 
other  districts,  which,  with  their  scantier  populations,  might 
have  had  some  reason  to  complain  that  they  had  not  been 
visited  so  often  as  they  might  have  been  by  the  Bishop  of 
the  diocese." 

The  Bishop  always  spoke  with  earnestness  about  the 
satisfaction  he  derived  from  that  his  first  real  Diocesan 
Conference ;  and  he  proved  his  earnestness  in  the  matter 
by  repeating  the  experiment  thus  made  in  the  following 
years. 

Here  may  be  added  a  letter  from  one  who  thought 
that  some  allusion  should  be  made  in  this  memoir 
to  the  annual  conferences  of  archdeacons  and  rural 
deans.  These  meetings  were  far  more  than  an 
occasion  of  extending  hospitality  to  a  number  of 
the  clergy,  though  the  opportunity  of  pleasant  social 
intercourse  at  the  Palace  is  gratefully  remembered. 
The  Rev.  H.  D.  Cust  Nunn  writes  : — 


MEETINGS   OF  RURAL   DEAN.  267 

There  was,  to  my  mind,  no  occasion  on  which  the 
Bishop's  great  powers  of  method,  of  gathering  into  focus, 
and  of  presidential  acumen,  displayed  themselves  more 
thoroughly.  I  have  before  me  some  agenda  papers,  which 
were  sent  out  to  each  member  of  this  Conference  some 
three  weeks  before  the  day  of  meeting,  and  to  show  how 
wide  of  range  were  the  subjects  for  discussion,  I  should 
like  to  quote  one  or  two. 

August  22,  1877. 

1.  The  Diocesan  Conference. 

2.  The  present  aspect  of  the  Burials  Question. 

3.  The  Ornaments  Rubric. 

4.  Parochial  Associations  in  aid  of  Foreign  Missions. 

5.  Elementary    Education  ;    should   the    Clergy   serve 
on    School   Attendance    Committees?     Arrangements   for 
Diocesan  Inspection. 

August  n,  1881. 

1.  The  mode  of  electing  clerical  representatives  for  the 
Diocesan  Conference. 

2.  The  Revised  Version  of  the  New  Testament. 

3.  The  working  of  the  Ecclesiastical  Dilapidations  Act. 

4.  How  may  the  Riding  Charities  for  the  relief  of  the 
Clergy  become  more  effectual  ? 

One  of  the  chief  arguments  advanced  for  making  the 
office  of  rural  dean  of  an  elective  character,  is  the  sup- 
posed well-nigh  servile  dependency  that  characterises  the 
present  system  of  nomination  by  the  bishop.  I  have  often 
thought  as  I  looked  upon  the  circle  of  my  brethren,  as  they 
sat  around  the  library  at  the  Palace,  how  thoroughly  mis- 
leading is  such  a  view.  For  here  were  representatives  of 
all  parties,  and,  what  is  more,  men  who,  of  whatever  party 
they  were,  were  known  to  be  some  of  the  most  independent 
spirits  in  the  diocese  ;  and  these  the  selection  of  the  Bishop. 
And,  as  in  the  choice  of  men  for  the  office,  so,  too,  in  the 
act  of  consultation  with  his  officers,  I  can  testify  how  far 
Bishop  Bickersteth  ever  was  from  seeking  to  unduly  in- 
fluence their  own  individual  views.  I  have  often  taken 


268      LIFE    OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

part  in  discussions  at  the  Palace  on  such  questions  as  "  the 
advisableness  of  frequent  Celebrations  of  the  Holy  Com- 
munion," when  views  have  been  freely  expressed,  most 
probably  not  in  accord  with  his ;  when  not  a  word  of 
rebuke  has  fallen  from  his  lips.  Moreover,  the  same  spirit 
of  liberality  has  been  extended  to  the  youngest  men  as  to 
the  elders.  Indeed,  I  think  it  was  rather  a  feature  of 
Bishop  Bickersteth's  character — not  always  to  be  found 
in  leaders — to  credit  young  men  with  their  due  and  proper 
share  of  sense  and  power.  I  have  said  enough  to  show, 
what  indeed  is  generally  acknowledged,  that,  as  a  Presi- 
dent, he  excelled  in  keeping  men  to  the  subject  of  dis- 
cussion, in  guiding  their  thoughts  with  tact,  and  in  gathering 
up  to  a  point  the  bearing  of  the  whole. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

EPISODES    OF  A    BUSY  LIFE. 

Hard  work  and  scanty  holidays — Confirmation  tours  in  the  dales — 
Hospitality  of  the  laity — Visits  the  sick,  and  constantly  talks  with 
working  men  on  spiritual  things — A  railway  accident — Illness  in 
1877 — Spends  six  weeks  at  Cintra — Letters  home  from  thence — 
Experience  of  Roman  Catholic  processions — Returning  home — 
The  exercise  of  patronage — Practical  sympathy  with  the  im- 
poverished clergy — Temperance  work  and  the  Navvy  Mission 
Society. 

TWENTY  years  of  incessant  work  began  to  leave  their 
mark  upon  a  constitution  naturally  very  strong  and 
vigorous.  A  more  careful  expenditure  of  time  and 
strength  might  have  added  many  years  to  the 
Bishop's  life,  but  the  value  of  a  life  must  be  mea- 
sured by  another  standard  than  that  of  time.  It 
was  the  rarest  thing  during  the  greater  part  of  his 
episcopate  for  my  father  to  take  a  holiday.  In  the 
years  1869  and  1873  he  went  abroad  for  a  few 
weeks,  and  found  the  most  intense  enjoyment  and 
refreshment  in  mountain  scenery ;  but  generally  his 
only  recreation  was  variety  of  work. 

The  diversified  character  of  the  Ripon  diocese 
was  not  without  advantage,  for  a  Confirmation  tour 
in  the  northern  dales  was  a  refreshing  change  from 
arduous  work  in  the  West  Riding.  In  alternate 
years  Confirmations  took  him  into  the  outlying 


270      LIFE   OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

districts  of  Arncliffe,  Hawes,  and  Sedburgh,  or  the 
even  more  remote  centres  of  Stanwick,  Barningham, 
Romaldkirk,  and  Bowes.  The  latter  round  was 
usually  accomplished  in  a  way  which  gave  him  a 
very  delightful  holiday.  Leaving  home  in  his  own 
carriage,  accompanied  by  my  mother  and  one  or  two 
children,  he  would  post  through  the  dales ;  and  the 
pleasure  of  these  Confirmation  tours  was  greatly 
enhanced  by  the  hospitality  of  many  kind  friends 
among  the  laity.  On  many  successive  tours  he  was 
the  guest  of  Mr.  Michell,  of  Forcett  Park,  the 
Duchess  Eleanor  of  Northumberland,  Mr.  Hutton, 
of  Marske,  the  late  Lord  Zetland,  Mr.  Morritt,  of 
Rokeby,  and  many  others  who  furthered  his  progress 
from  place  to  place,  and  did  all  in  their  power  to 
make  his  work  agreeable  and  easy.  These  friends 
in  the  North  did  for  him  what  was  done  by  many 
others  of  the  laity  in  the  manufacturing  districts. 
It  is  impossible  to  enumerate  all  those  whose  houses 
were  open  to  him  when  work  called  him  to  their 
neighbourhood ;  but  the  hospitality  he  most  fre- 
quently enjoyed  was  that  of  Mr.  Rawson,  of  Mill 
House,  and  Colonel  Akroyd,  at  Halifax,  the  late 
Mr.  John  Rand,  at  Bradford,  and  Mr.  Bickerton 
Turner,  at  the  Bank  of  England  in  Leeds.  These 
visits  were  always  connected  with  some  public  duty ; 
but  Sir  Charles  Lowther,  at  Swillington  and  Wilton 
Castle,  and  Miss  Rawson,  of  Nydd,  were  amongst 
the  number  of  those  who  tried  to  detain  him  for 
a  few  days  of  rest  and  quiet  in  the  intervals  of  ex- 
hausting work. 

The  late  Mr.   Mark  Milbank  used  to  entertain 
him  at  his  shooting-box  at  Barningham,  from  whence 


HOSPITALITY   OF   THE  LAITY.  2jl 

he  could  reach  the  out-of-the-way  districts  on  the 
borders  of  the  Tees  ;  -and  from  Bowes,  where  he  was 
often  the  guest  of  the  late  Dr.  Headlam,  who  was 
for  a  long  time  Chancellor  of  the  diocese,  he  would 
ramble  over  the  hills,  and  point  out  to  his  children 
the  redoubtable  mansion  of  Dotheboys  Hall,  where 
there  still  flourished  the  lineal  descendants  of  the 
eminent  pedagogue  who-  was  the  original  of  the 
great  Mr.  Squeers. 

My  father  greatly  enjoyed  the  hearty  greetings 
with  which  the  dalesmen  received  him,  and  when 
staying  in  a  country  parish  he  would  often  accompany 
the  clergyman  to  visit  sick  or  bedridden  parishioners, 
who  remembered  the  Bishop's  sermons  in  former 
years,  or  desired  to  be  reminded  of  their  Confirma- 
tion by  receiving  again  his  blessing. 

Whenever  he  was  thrown  in  the  way  of  working 
men,  whether  they  were  farmers  in  the  dales,  or 
porters  on  the  railway,  or  labourers  on  the  country 
roads,  my  father  sought  opportunity  to  speak  to  them 
of  spiritual  things. 

His  admirable  tact  enabled  him  to  do  this  in  a 
way  which  made  a  deep  impression,  for  none  could 
mistake  the  reality  of  the  interest  which  he  took  in 
the  highest  welfare  of  all  alike  who  came  within  his 
reach.  Navvies,  and  other  working-men,  have  often 
surprised  people  by  their  grateful  recollection  of  the 
Bishop's  words,  and  of  the  direct,  personal  way  in 
which  he  spoke  to  them  of  giving  their  hearts  to  God. 

There  was  no  more  familiar  figure  on  the  rail- 
way between  Leeds  and  Ripon  than  the  Bishop,  who 
was  passing  to  and  fro  often  three  or  four  times  a 
week.  His  movements  were  all  arranged  by  him- 


272       LIFE   OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

self,  and  the  Confirmation  tours  were  planned  not 
without  an  accurate  study  of  Bradshaw,  which  en- 
sured an  unfailing  punctuality.  On  one  occasion, 
rather  than  miss  an  important  engagement,  he 
reached  his  destination  in  a  somewhat  remarkable 
way.  The  congregation  knew  that  there  had  been 
a  mistake  about  the  trains,  and  expected  that  for 
once  the  Bishop  would  fail  to  appear.  The  church- 
wardens, however,  refused  to  postpone  the  service, 
certain  that  he  would  come  somehow ;  and  surely 
enough  the  Bishop  arrived,  having  travelled  on  the 
engine  of  a  goods  train. 

Once,  and  once  only  in  all  his  travelling,  my 
father  met  with  a  railway  accident.  He  was  a  pas- 
senger from  Leeds  by  the  5.30  p.m.  express  on 
January  25,  1872.  Some  three  miles  from  Harro- 
gate,  on  the  dangerous  curve  leading  to  the  Crimple 
Viaduct,  the  train  was  going  at  excessive  speed,  and 
an  accident  occurred,  in  which  the  Bishop  and  a 
number  of  other  passengers  escaped  death  or  severe 
personal  injuries  in  a  manner  that  may  be  regarded 
as  little  less  than  miraculous.  There  was  something 
wrong  with  the  facing  points  where  the  loop  for 
H arrogate  leaves  the  old  main  line.  The  engine, 
tender,  and  three  or  four  carriages  passed  safely 
over  the  points ;  then  there  was  a  severe  shock,  and 
the  carriages  composing  the  latter  half  of  the  train 
were  driven  upon  the  wrong  line  of  rails.  The 
coupling  chains  snapped,  the  engine  swerved  and 
ran  into  the  embankment,  half  burying  itself  in  the 
soil.  Several  carriages,  including  the  one  in  which 
my  father  travelled,  were  completely  overturned. 
He  was  precipitated  into  the  arms  of  a  fellow- 


A    RAILWAY  ACCIDENT.  273 

passenger,  and  escaped  entirely  unhurt.  He  climbed 
through  the  window  of  the  broken  carriage,  and  after 
seeing  that  there  was  no  one  seriously  injured  he 
walked  on  to  H arrogate. 

Alarming  rumours  soon  spread  that  the  accident 
had  been  of  a  very  serious  character,  and  it  was 
feared  that  the  Bishop  was  hurt.  For  the  next  few 
days  he  was  overwhelmed  with  letters  of  kind  con- 
gratulation and  inquiry,  and  these  he  carefully  pre- 
served as  a  memorial  of  an  escape  for  which  he  was 
deeply  thankful  to  the  protecting  Providence  of  God. 
Incidents  of  this  kind  from  time  to  time  gave  people 
the  opportunity  of  showing  the  love  and  veneration 
with  which  they  regarded  their  Bishop.1 

The  first  prolonged  interruption  to  his  work  took 
place  in  the  spring  of  1877,  when  he  was  laid  aside 
by  illness  for  a  month  in  London.  On  his  recovery, 
by  the  advice  of  Sir  James  Paget  he  went  abroad, 
accompanied  by  his  daughter,  to  spend  several  weeks 
with  his  friend,  Mr.  (now  Sir  Francis)  Cook,  whose 
family  had  been  amongst  my  father's  warmest  sup- 
porters in  early  days  at  Clapham,  at  his  beautiful 
Villa  of  Monserrate,  near  Cintra,  in  Portugal. 

The  life  at  Cintra  was  so  novel  an  experience, 
and  he  saw  there  so  much  that  was  interesting,  that 
a  few  extracts  from  his  letters  home  are  well  worth 
preserving. 

They  sailed  from  Southampton  on  Monday,  the 
9th  of  April,  and  after  a  rather  rough  voyage  across 
the  Bay  of  Biscay  reached  Lisbon  on  Friday  morn- 
ing, the  1 3th.  The  next  day  they  joined  Mr.  and 

1  By  my  father's  desire,  mention  was  made  of  his  escape  in  the  General 
Thanksgiving  at  the  Cathedral  on  the  following  Sunday. 

T 


274      LIFE   OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

Mrs.  Cook  in  Lisbon,  and  proceeded  to  Cintra,  a 
drive  of  about  sixteen  miles.  Of  this  journey  my 
father  writes  :— 

The  road  from  Lisbon  to  Cintra  is  not  pretty  till  you 
get  within  sight  of  the  Cintra  mountains.  But  it  is  strange 
to  see  the  hedges  for  the  most  part  formed  of  aloes,  and 
occasionally  with  geraniums  growing  quite  wild.  We  halted 
three  times  on  the  journey  to  give  the  horses  bread  and 
wine !  and  arrived  at  Monserrate  (which  is  about  two  miles 
beyond  Cintra)  at  seven.  Darling  F.  did  not  seem  fatigued  ; 
but  we  were  quite  ready  for  dinner  at  7.45.  The  servants 
here  had  only  got  the  letter  announcing  our  coming  at  three 
in  the  afternoon  ;  they  displayed  wonderful  energy  in  get- 
ting all  ready  in  so  short  a  time. 

The  scenery  is  exquisite.  It  is  a  combination  of  majestic 
rocks,  hills,  forests,  most  beautiful  flowers,  and  a  view  of  the 
sea  in  the  distance.  The  Cooks  are  as  kind  as  it  is  possible 
to  be.  ...  This  morning  (Sunday)  at  eleven  we  had  a 
service  in  the  drawing-room.  There  is  no  English  service 
or  clergyman  at  Cintra,  so  that  we  are  entirely  shut  out 
from  all  public  means  of  grace.  But  God  can  supply  the 
want  when,  in  His  Providence,  we  are  deprived  of  them. 
We  are  eagerly  looking  out  for  letters  from  you.  .  .  .  You 
shall  hear  from  us  constantly,  but  I  am  afraid  the  letters 
will  be  five  or  six  days  in  reaching  you. 

In  another  letter  to  my  mother  the  following 
day,  April  16,  he  writes  an  account  of  the  house 
itself  in  which  he  spent  the  six  weeks'  holiday  :— 

Our  rooms  are  in  a  tower  which  we  ascend  by  stone 
steps.  There  is  no  fireplace  in  the  whole  house.  The 
drawing-room  felt  cold  yesterday  till  they  warmed  it  with 
a  charcoal  brazier.  I  give  you  a  sketch  of  the  shape  of  my 
room.  .  .  .  The  views  from  the  windows  are  extremely 
pretty :  from  one  window  I  look  on  the  king's  palace, 
which  is  on  a  lofty  hill  about  two  miles  off;  from  another, 


MONSERRATE,   PORTUGAL. 


on  the  sea  in  the  distance  ;  and  from  the  third,  on  to  the 
garden.  It  would  be  hardly  possible  to  give  you  any  idea 
of  the  house  or  grounds.  The  house  is  somewhat  in  the 
style  of  the  Alhambra,  with  long  corridors  and  lofty  domes. 
Every  room  abounds  with  curiosities  or  relics  of  antiquity. 
Mr.  Cook  seems  to  have  ransacked  the  world  to  enrich 
the  house  with  objects  of  interest.  The  whole  length  of 
the  principal  corridor  has  columns  of  coloured  marble  on 
each  side.  The  gallery,  at  nearly  the  top  of  one  of  the 
domes,  is  panelled  with  marbles  which  were  taken  from 
the  palace  of  the  King  of  Delhi.  In  the  grounds  you  find 
nearly  every  kind  of  tree  which  grows  in  tropical  climates, 
and  azaleas,  rhododendrons,  roses,  geraniums,  fuchsias,  are 
in  full  flower  and  wild  profusion.  There  are  quantities  of 
aloes,  myrtles,  arbutus  trees,  and  palms.  The  cork  tree 
seems  the  commonest.  Then  there  are  beautiful  pine  trees 
of  every  description.  How  you  would  enjoy  the  flowers  ! 

To  the  same  :  — 

There  is  a  large  library  here,  but  the  great  majority  of 
the  books  are  in  Spanish  and  Portuguese,  and  therefore 
of  little  use  to  any  one  in  the  house.  I  have,  however,  found 
some  English  books  amongst  them.  I  have  read  nearly 
the  whole  of  Milton  aloud  to  F.  while  she  was  sketch- 
ing. I  am  reading  Southey's  "  Letters  on  Spain  and 
Portugal  ;  "  they  are  written  in  an  amusing  style.  F. 
and  I  have  also  read  some  of  Gibbon's  "  Lives  of  Eminent 
Women  ;  "  and  I  am  reading  over  again  "  Chalmers  on  the 
Romans,"  which  I  admire  and  value  more  and  more.  .  .  . 

Another  letter  gives  a  graphic  account  of  a 
pleasant  expedition  :— 

It  is  my  turn  to  write  to  you  to-day  ;  and  first  I  must 
tell  you  about  our  proceedings  yesterday.  .  .  .  About  half 
an  hour  after  breakfast  Mrs.  Cook,  F.,  Miss  G.,  Mr.  M.,  and 
I  set  off  in  an  open  carnage  for  Cascailles,  a  little  sea-bath- 
ing town  about  nine  miles  off.  The  place  is  pronounced 


276       LIFE   OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

"Cask-Ides."  The  weather  was  magnificent,  bright  and 
genial  without  any  oppressive  heat.  We  arrived  there 
about  12.30.  The  road  is  excellent,  and  in  many  parts  of 
it  there  were  hedges  on  both  sides  of  aloes  and  geraniums, 
growing  wild,  and  in  full  flower.  As  soon  as  we  reached 
the  town  we  went  to  the  sea-shore,  and  chose  a  place 
amongst  the  rocks  for  our  picnic  luncheon.  It  is  a  wild, 
rocky  shore ;  we  were  seated  on  rocks  some  thirty  feet 
above  the  sea.  They  had  all  been  covered  in  the  early 
morning  by  the  high  tide.  The  Atlantic  rolls  in  with 
grand  effect ;  and  as  wave  after  wave  broke  against  the 
rocks  the  spray  rose  up  to  a  great  height,  and  sometimes 
nearly  reached  where  we  were  sitting.  Having  finished 
our  picnic,  F.  and  Miss  G.  chose  a  place  for  sketching,  and 
were  occupied  for  an  hour  and  a  half  in  taking  a  view  of 
the  rocks,  the  lighthouse,  and  sea.  This  is  very  near  where 
we  spent  the  night  of  April  12,  tossing  about  and  waiting 
for  the  morning,  to  cross  the  Bar  and  come  up  the  Tagus 
to  Lisbon.  .  .  .  We  returned  about  six  o'clock,  and  found 
our  letters,  for  which  we  send  you  a  thousand  thanks.  .  .  . 
To-day  we  have  had  another  excursion,  although  a  much 
shorter  one.  After  breakfast  we  drove  to  Cintra,  and  took 
our  station  in  front  of  a  house  on  an  eminence,  to  see  a 
Roman  Catholic  procession.  It  appears  that  there  is  an 
image  of  the  Virgin  which  is  made  to  take  a  circuit  of 
twenty  parishes,  and  is  brought  into  each  of  them  in  turn 
with  grand  demonstrations.  It  remains  in  the  principal 
church  a  whole  year,  and  then  is  conveyed  to  another 
parish  for  a  similar  period.  This  image  was  brought  to 
Cintra  about  this  time  last  year,  and  to-day  it  has  been 
conveyed  to  another  parish.  The  procession  consisted  of 
a  number  of  carriages  drawn  by  mules,  some  representa- 
tives of  the  Government  on  horseback,  and  a  band  of  music 
in  a  curious  chariot  drawn  by  six  mules.  Then  a  small 
coach,  gilt,  with  glass  sides,  not  unlike  a  miniature  of  the 
Lord  Mayor's  coach,  with  a  wax  doll  inside,  dressed  in  blue 
silk,  with  a  shawl  over  it,  which  represents  the  Virgin  Mary. 
There  was  a  cart  in  the  procession  full  of  sky-rockets. 


MISSIONS  IN  SPAIN.  277 

Every  now  and  then  the  procession  made  a  halt,  and  one 
of  the  boys  on  horseback  shouted  at  the  top  of  his  voice 
a  notice  of  all  the  blessings  which  the  Virgin  bestows 
wherever  she  comes.  Then  they  let  off  a  number  of  the 
rockets  ;  the  band  plays,  and  the  guns  in  Cintra  fire.  It  is 
almost  incredible  that  any  persons  of  sense  and  intelligence 
can  believe  in,  or  practise  such  superstition. 

My  father  took  a  great  interest  in  the  Missions 
to  Roman  Catholics  which  were  directed  by  Mr. 
Pope,  the  British  Chaplain  at  Lisbon.  He  visited 
several  of  the  schools,  talking  to  the  teachers,  and 
examining  the  children ;  and  both  at  the  time  and 
afterwards  watched  with  deep  sympathy  the  effort 
to  introduce  a  purer  form  of  faith,  where  the  worst 
superstitions  of  Romanism  were  terribly  rife. 

During  the  time  he  was  at  Monserrate  my 
father  conducted  services  in  the  house  every 
Sunday,  which  were  attended  by  English  residents 
at  Cintra ;  and  on  the  way  home  he  preached  in 
Lisbon. 

My  father  rapidly  regained  strength  during  his 
stay  in  Portugal,  and  in  answer  to  a  letter  from 
my  mother  urging  him  to  prolong  his  holiday,  he 
wrote  : — 

It  is  meant,  I  know,  very  kindly  when  people  say  I 
ought  not  to  return  to  work  for  months  to  come.  But 
they  little  know  what  self-restraint  it  costs  me  to  stay 
away  at  all  now  that,  through  God's  mercy,  I  am  quite 
well.  .  .  . 

He  reached  home  by  midsummer,  1877.  During 
this  year  the  Spring  Confirmations  were  taken  by 
Bishop  Ryan,  who  had  succeeded  Dr.  Burnett  as 
Vicar  of  Bradford  in  1870,  and  gave  my  father 
much  invaluable  help. 


278      LIFE   OF  BISHOP   ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

The  Bishop  was  now  strong  and  vigorous,  and 
quite  up  to  his  work,  and  the  summer  and  autumn 
of  this  year  were  fully  occupied.  No  less  than  ten 
new  churches  were  consecrated,  and  restorations 
were  completed  at  Cawthorne,  Pickhill,  Pudsey, 
Netherthong,  Rokeby,  Silsden,  and  Mean  wood. 

Hitherto  no  allusion  has  been  made  to  a  part  of 
his  work  which  my  father  felt  was  a  source  of  greater 
anxiety  than  satisfaction  ;  I  mean  the  distribution  of 
patronage.  As  in  the  case  of  other  recently  consti- 
tuted dioceses,  the  number  of  livings  in  the  Bishop's 
gift  was  small,  and  of  these  some  of  the  most  im- 
portant were  outside  the  diocese.  He  sought  to 
exchange  some  of  the  latter  with  the  Crown,  so  as  to 
obtain  the  advowson  of  important  parishes  within  his 
own  jurisdiction.  In  applying  to  Lord  Palmerston 
with  reference  to  these  exchanges,  he  wrote  :— 

My  only  desire  in  seeking  this  exchange  of  patronage 
is  to  enable  me  to  reward  the  deserving  clergy  of  my  own 
diocese,  without  sending  them  out  of  it ;  and  I  have  care- 
fully endeavoured  to  make  such  a  proposal  as  would  secure 
as  nearly  as  possible  an  equivalent  on  either  side  of  the 
exchange,  reference  being  had  to  the  total  result. 

He  was  successful  in  making  a  few  of  these 
exchanges,  Wakefield  being  amongst  the  number 
which  he  secured  ;  but  Lord  John  Russell  refused 
the  assent  of  the  Crown  to  the  exchange  of  Halifax 
for  Stanhope,  on  the  ground  that  the  former  carried 
with  it  so  much  patronage  and  influence  as  to  be 
almost  a  bishopric  in  itself.  Thus  my  father  had 
twice  in  his  lifetime  to  appoint  to  Stanhope,  which 
is  the  only  very  valuable  living  in  the  patronage  of 
the  Bishop  of  Ripon.  Once  he  had  the  pleasure  of 


EXERCISE   OF  PATRONAGE.  279 

bestowing  it  upon  the  Rev.  Charles  Clayton,  whose 
work  as  examining  chaplain  well  deserved  substan- 
tial recognition,  and  at  his  lamented  death  upon  the 
Right  Rev.  Bishop  Ryan. 

No  public  patron  can  escape  criticism,  and  my 
father  was  conscious  sometimes  of  making  mistakes 
which  caused  him  the  deepest  regret ;  but  the  clergy 
generally  recognised  that  he  was  scrupulously  just, 
and  the  claim  of  hard  work  was  never  forgotten, 
even  when  it  was  accompanied  by  views  differing 
from  his  own. 

The  following  was  written  by  a  clergyman  in 
the  diocese  after  my  father's  death  : — 

I  cannot  refrain  from  writing  you  a  few  lines  to  express 
my  deep  sympathy  with  yourself  and  your  family  in  the 
sudden  calamity  which  has  befallen  you.  It  was  only 
about  a  week  ago  that  I  had  a  most  kind  letter  from  your 
father,  and  I  shall  ever  have  great  reason  to  remember  his 
kindness  to  me.  I  believe  I  am  the  last  man  whom  he 
presented  to  a  living,  and  I  need  scarcely  tell  you  how 
deeply  I  appreciated  this  mark  of  his  favour ;  and  all  the 
more  because  he  must  have  known  me  to  be  one  not  hold- 
ing precisely  his  own  views.  I  take  this  as  an  instance  of 
his  general  fair  dealing  with  his  clergy.  He  will  ever  be 
remembered  as  a  hard-working  bishop  who  strove  to  do  his 
duty ;  and  no  man  can  do  more.  Forgive  me  for  writing 
thus  freely,  but  I  felt  very  anxious  that  you  and  your 
family  should  be  assured  of  my  true  sympathy,  and  of  my 
earnest  prayers  that  you  may  be  comforted  from  above  in 
this  your  time  of  need. 

There  are  many  letters  which  show  what  anxious 
inquiry  was  made  about  the  fitness  of  possible  can- 
didates for  a  post ;  and  the  Bishop's  judgment  was 
so  much  trusted  by  lay  patrons  in  the  diocese,  that 


280      LIFE   OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

indirectly  his  influence  in  appointments  was  much 
greater  than  would  appear  from  the  number  of 
livings  actually  in  his  gift. 

In  the  exercise  of  his  patronage  my  father  showed 
a  thoughtful  consideration  for  the  wants  of  his 
clergy,  as  well  as  for  the  people  to  whom  they  were 
sent.  The  following  incident  is  so  remarkable  as 
to  be  worth  recording.  An  exemplary  clergyman, 
with  a  small  living  and  a  large  family,  wrote  to  the 
Bishop  to  say  that  he  found  himself  obliged  to  resign 
his  living  and  seek  work  abroad,  where  he  would 
be  better  able  to  provide  for  his  children.  His 
letter  was  crossed  by  one  from  the  Bishop  offering 
him  an  important  living,  where  he  could  do  work  for 
which  he  was  exceptionally  qualified,  and  which 
would  set  him  free  from  pecuniary  anxiety.  It  was 
curious  that  the  Bishop  had  anticipated  the  letter, 
and  that  the  clergyman  in  question  could  feel  that 
his  wants  were  supplied  before  he  had  himself  made 
them  known  to  his  Bishop. 

In  the  appointment  of  rural  deans  and  hono- 
rary canons  of  the  Cathedral,  the  Bishop  cordially 
recognised  all  parties  in  the  Church,  and  gave  great 
satisfaction  to  High  Churchmen  in  the  diocese  by 
the  appointment  as  archdeacon  of  one  who  had 
lost  his  seat  in  Convocation  by  what  was  thought 
an  unworthy  display  of  party  spirit. 

It  was  a  source  of  great  sorrow  to  my  father 
that  so  many  livings  in  the  diocese  of  Ripon  were 
miserably  poor,  and  he  fostered  a  great  variety  of 
local  schemes  for  the  increase  of  endowment.  In 
this  direction  there  has  been,  on  the  whole,  a  steady 
advance  ;  but  there  were  often  cases,  known  only  to 


SYMPATHY    WITH   THE   CLERGY.  281 

the  Bishop,  where  the  clergy  were  struggling  against 
terrible  poverty. 

In  some  cases  his  delicate  tact  and  generous 
sympathy  suggested  means  of  relieving  their  need, 
but  these  acts  of  charity  were  literally  done  by 
stealth. 

It  is  only  since  my  father's  death  that  a  clergy- 
man told  his  family  of  an  act  of  generosity  which 
the  Bishop  had  never  mentioned  to  any  one. 

The  clergyman  in  question  had  been  suffering 
from  much  anxiety,  owing  to  serious  and  prolonged 
illness  in  his  family.  He  and  his  wife  had  made  it 
a  matter  of  earnest  prayer  that  God  would  provide 
the  means  of  obtaining  the  change  so  essential  to 
the  health  of  their  children.  They  received  a  letter 
from  the  Bishop,  saying  that  he  had  heard  of  their 
trouble,  and  begged  them  to  accept  a  present  of 
^"50,  only  adding  that  they  must  let  no  one  know 
whence  it  came. 

On  the  same  subject,  I  have  before  me  a  letter 
from  another  clergyman.  He  writes  :— 

My  Lord, — I  am  greatly  obliged  to  you  for  your  very 
kind  letter,  and  for  your  very  handsome  gift  to  the  poor 
— s.  I  hope,  however,  your  Lordship  will  not  think  that 
in  writing  to  you,  I  had  any  intention  whatever,  or  any 
thought  of  asking  you  for  such  assistance  as  you  have  so 
very  kindly  given.  I  know  too  well  how  numerous  are  the 
calls  made  upon  you,  and  I  could  not  venture  to  add  to 
them.  In  writing  to  your  Lordship,  I  was  thinking  only  of 
the  diocesan  societies.  I  sent  your  cheque  to  Mr.  - 
yesterday.  They  will  indeed  be  all  most  grateful  to  you, 
and  feel  your  kindness  and  sympathy  very  deeply,  as  I  do. 
With  many  grateful  thanks, 

I  am,  my  Lord,  etc. 


282       LIFE    OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

These  were  acts  of  private  benevolence ;  but 
after  1867  my  father  had  also  the  happiness  of  ad- 
ministering a  charity,  founded  by  the  liberality  of 
Mrs.  Danby  Vernon  Harcourt,  of  Swinton.  She 
made  over  to  the  Bishop  and  archdeacons  a  capital 
sum,  yielding  about  ^200  per  annum,  for  the  relief 
of  necessitous  clergymen,  their  widows  and  orphan 
children,  in  the  diocese  of  Ripon. 

In  late  years  my  father  took  a  prominent  part 
in  the  work  of  the  Church  of  England  Temperance 
Society.  He  had  always,  of  course,  been  the  ad- 
vocate of  temperance,  but  he  had  not  joined  the 
movement  heartily  until  the  double  platform  intro- 
duced by  Canon  Ellison  smoothed  the  way  for  those 
who  were  not  prepared  to  insist  on  total  abstinence 
for  all. 

My  father  tried  at  various  times  to  become  a  total 
abstainer,  but  was  called  to  order  by  his  doctors. 

Twice  in  the  course  of  one  autumn  he  spoke  on 
the  subject  in  Leeds  :  once  addressing  a  large  meet- 
ing, under  the  auspices  of  the  local  branch,  at  the 
Victoria  Hall ;  and  once  at  the  meeting  when  the 
diocesan  branch  was  inaugurated,  on  December  17, 
1878.  Whenever  the  Bishop  threw  himself  into  a 
movement  of  the  kind,  his  office  of  president  was  no 
sinecure,  for  he  brought  to  bear  his  wide  experience 
in  the  formation  of  rules  and  constitutions  which 
would  generally  be  left  to  persons  of  greater  leisure. 

A  notable  instance  of  this  was  found  in  his  rela- 
tions with  the  Navvy  Mission  Society.  A  member 
of  the  committee  wrote  :— 

One  of  the  objects  of  usefulness  in  which  Bishop 
Bickersteth  took  a  warm  and  kindly  interest  was  the  Navvy 


THE  NAVVY  MISSION.  283 

Mission  Society;  indeed,  he  was  one  of  its  earliest  promoters. 
A  chain  of  large  waterworks  were  being  constructed  in  his 
diocese,  on  the  moors  between  Harrogate  and  Bolton 
Abbey,  and  a  large  number  of  navvies  congregated  there. 
Another  large  reservoir  was  at  the  same  time  being  con- 
structed for  Halifax,  at  a  spot  called  Blackamore  Foot. 
At  first,  as  usual,  what  was  no  man's  business  became  no 
man's  work  ;  but  the  Rev.  C.  S.  Green,  at  Blackamore  Foot, 
and  the  Rev.  L.  M.  Evans,  at  Lindley  Wood,  one  of  the 
Leeds  reservoirs,  had  their  hearts  stirred  by  seeing  such 
masses  of  fine,  hard-working  men  left  spiritually  imcared  for  ; 
and,  without  any  knowledge  of  each  other,  or  any  assistance 
from  others,  began  and  carried  on  at  their  own  cost,  at  the 
sacrifice  in  both  cases  of  their  health,  a  mission  work  which 
lasted  for  years  amongst  the  navvies  who  had  collected  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  their  respective  parishes. 

When  the  men  left,  and  sheets  of  water  filled  the  valleys 
lately  occupied  by  huts,  shants,  stables,  engine-houses, 
schools,  and  temporary  churches,  their  efforts  ended  as 
similar  ones  had  done  in  former  years  at  other  places.  But 
the  Rev.  L.  M.  Evans  could  not  be  satisfied  that  such  should 
be  the  case.  He  had  seen  what  by  the  blessing  of  God 
could  be  accomplished  at  one  spot  He  had  seen  the  lives 
of  many  men  entirely  changed,  and  the  general  character 
of  a  large  settlement  completely  altered  ;  but  he  knew  that 
there  were  scores  of  similar  public  works  where  nothing 
at  all  was  done,  save  providing  a  drinking  shant  for  the 
navvies  ;  and  he  made  inquiries  at  all  the  places  he  could 
hear  of,  which  confirmed  to  the  full  the  worst  accounts 
he  had  gathered  from  the  men.  At  seventy- two  places 
only  Sunday  service  was  held ;  at  four,  Sunday  schools  ; 
at  three,  night  schools  ;  and  at  four,  only  day  schools.  Mr. 
Evans  brought  the  matter  forward  by  an  appeal  to  the 
public  to  provide  means  whereby  Navvy  missionaries, 
chaplains,  services,  schools,  reading-rooms,  savings- 
banks,  and  other  means  for  the  spiritual  and  temporal 
benefit  of  an  hitherto  outcast  and  neglected  class,  might 
be  provided.  Bishop  Bickersteth  heartily  approved  of  the 


284      LIFE    OF  BISHOP   ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

proposal ;  and  when  it  pleased  God  to  crown  Mr.  Evans' 
appeal  with  success,  and  sufficient  funds  had  been  col- 
lected to  warrant  the  formation  of  the  new  society,  the 
Bishop  became  an  annual  subscriber,  and  chairman  of 
the  committee.  This  committee  met  at  the.  Deanery, 
Ripon,  where  Dean  Fremantle,  Dr.  Gott  (then  Vicar  of 
Leeds),  Canon  Jackson,  and  the  Rev.  J.  H.  Goodier,  who 
were  its  earliest  helpers,  still  manage  its  now  extensive 
operations.  The  earliest  days  of  the  Navvy  Mission  were 
its  most  trying  ones.  The  opposition  and  dislike  it  en- 
countered were  enormous  :  every  one  looked  on  it  either 
with  suspicion,  or  as  chimerical.  Clergy,  contractors, 
engineers,  from  some  preconceived  notion,  or  one  motive 
or  another,  disliked  it.  The  general  Christian  public  re- 
garded another  society  as  a  (probably  useless)  burden. 
The  navvies  themselves  were  the  first  to  shake  off  their 
suspicions  and  to  welcome  its  operations. 

The  difficulties  of  carrying  on  the  work,  even  when  it 
was  fairly  started,  were  very  great.  The  right  men  for 
missionaries  are  most  difficult  to  find  ;  and  never,  even 
now,  is  a  Mission  carried  on  without  innumerable  diffi- 
culties springing  up,  which  have  to  be  met  and  overcome 
constantly  in  the  course  of  its  existence.  Each  station 
is  a  cause  of  anxiety  to  the  committee,  and  nothing  but 
the  conviction  of  the  amount  of  good  which  has  been 
done,  and  of  the  ample  blessing  God  gives  to  their  efforts, 
has  enabled  them  to  continue  at  their  post  Much  wisdom, 
as  well  as  charity,  much  judgment,  much  organising  power, 
were  needed,  especially  at  the  first ;  and  all  these  qualities 
Bishop  Bickersteth  possessed  in  a  pre-eminent  degree. 
Until  his  health  completely  gave  way,  he  was  never  absent 
from  a  committee  meeting  at  Ripon.  No  difficulty  arose, 
however  complicated,  but,  with  wonderful  acumen,  he  at 
once  saw  what  ought  to  be  done,  and  pointed  out  quietly 
and  firmly  the  line  which  must  be  taken.  And  his  judg- 
ment always  proved  correct.  It  gave  him  much  pleasure 
to  see  the  Navvy  Mission  grow  in  favour  and  influence. 
He  took  the  chair  at  one  of  the  first  drawing-room  meet- 


A    CONSCIENTIOUS   PRESIDENT.  285 

ings  held  for  it  (at  the  Earl  of  Aberdeen's  house)  in  London, 
and  frequently  afterwards,  both  at  public  meetings  in 
London  and  in  his  own  diocese.  He  did  this,  too,  amidst 
the  pressure  of  over-burdening  labour,  always  so  cheerfully 
and  so  willingly,  it  doubled  the  sense  of  the  kindness.  To 
one  of  the  committee,  who,  on  several  occasions,  was 
obliged  to  consult  him  between  the  times  of  the  meetings 
on  various  difficult  matters  which  needed  settling  then 
and  there,  and  could  not  wait,  he  said,  in  reply  to  some 
expressions  of  regret  at  being  so  troublesome,  "  Come  to 
me  whenever  you  wish ;  I  am  always  glad  to  help  the 
Navvy  Mission." 

Even  when  he  became  too  ill  to  take  any  longer  his 
accustomed  place  at  the  committee,  he  would  ask  earnestly 
after  the  welfare  of  the  society,  and  was  delighted  to  freely 
license  the  Mission-rooms  (where  it  was  asked  for)  for  the 
Celebration  of  the  Holy  Communion.  He  wrote  himself  one 
of  the  earliest  numbers  of  the  Quarterly  Letters  to  navvies, 
and  asked  the  editor  to  send  him  a  copy  each  quarter ;  and 
this  was  done  up  to  the  end  of  his  life.  Only  those  who 
had  the  honour  of  working  under  Bishop  Bickersteth  can 
tell  how  terribly  he  is  missed.  The  Dean  of  Ripon  and 
Canon  Jackson  still,  thank  God,  are  with  us,  but  the 
Bishop's  place,  its  first  president,  is  vacant  ;  but,  doubtless 
he  knows,  and  rejoices  in  knowing,  that  the  feeble  effort 
he  assisted  to  promote,  has  taken  root  in  the  hearts  of  the 
navvies  all  over  England  ;  that  clergy  and  contractors 
have  become  its  kind  friends  and  helpers ;  that  in  the 
nine  years  which  have  passed  since  he  presided  at  its 
formation,  the  whole  of  a  great  neglected  class  has  been 
raised  by  its  efforts  ;  and,  best  of  all,  that  through  its  work 
many  many  souls  have  been  called  out  of  darkness  into  the 
glorious  liberty  of  the  sons  of  God. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

CLOSING    YEARS.      THE  END. 

Death  of  Craufurd  Tait — Pan-Anglican  Synod — Sermon  before  the 
Synod  and  the  Church  Congress  at  Sheffield — Visitation  in  1879 — 
Growing  weakness — Hard  work  in  1880 — Winters  at  Bournemouth 
— Arrangements  for  the  appointment  of  a  suffragan — Kind  help  of 
Bishops  Ryan  and  Hellmuth — Weakness,  but  regular  attention  to 
letters,  and  fervent  intercession  for  the  diocese — Return  from 
Bournemouth  in  March,  1884 — Great  hopes  of  recovery,  and  the 
sudden  end  on  Easter  Tuesday— The  funeral,  and  extracts  from 
letters. 

THE  year  1878  was  an  eventful  one  ;  and,  in  addition 
to  the  growing  pressure  of  diocesan  work,  there 
were  family  anxieties,  culminating  in  a  bereavement 
which  was.  to  my  father  hardly  less  trying  than  the 
loss  of  his  son  Ernest,  in  1872.  There  had  sprung 
up  a  warm  friendship  between  my  father  and  Arch- 
bishop Tait,  which  would  have  been  cemented  by 
a  marriage  to  which  both  alike  were  looking  forward 
with  the  most  joyous  hope. 

The  Archbishop  himself  has  told  in  language 
so  touching  the  story  of  the  illness  and  death  of 
Craufurd  Tait,  that  there  is  no  need  for  another  to 
dwell  on  the  bright  hopes  which  were  shattered  by 
his  untimely  death. 

My  father  had  spent  a  fortnight  at  Addington 
in  May,  and  was  summoned  to  Stonehouse,  the 
Archbishop's  house  in  Thanet,  just  in  time  to  see 


PAN-ANGLICAN  SYNOD.  287 

Craufurd  pass  away.  He  remained  some  time  in 
the  house  of  mourning,  for  the  Archbishop  seemed 
to  lean  on  the  sympathy  and  friendship  of  one  who 
so  fully  shared  his  grief. 

That  summer  he  paid  as  usual  a  visit  to  his  friends, 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Henry  Thornton  of  Battersea  Rise,  and 
was  present  during  the  great  Pan-Anglican  Synod 
which  met  at  Lambeth  in  June.  At  the  same  time  he 
sat  to  Mr.  Watts  for  the  portrait  which  was  presented 
by  the  clergy  and  laity  of  the  diocese,  and  now  hangs 
in  the  hall  at  the  Palace.  The  portrait  displays  much 
of  the  painter's  genius,  but  it  is  too  faithful  a  witness 
to  the  fact  that  this  summer  was  a  time  of  anxiety 
and  overstrain,  which  left  behind  that  look  of  weari- 
ness from  which  the  Bishop  never  again  was  free. 

Ten  years  before,  my  father  had  been  doubtful 
about  the  wisdom  of  holding  a  Pan-Anglican  Synod 
at  all ;  but  this  year  he  threw  himself  heartily  into 
the  scheme,  not  only  because  he  desired  to  support 
the  Archbishop  under  the  heavy  strain  of  the  public 
work  which  followed  so  closely  on  his  private  sorrow, 
but  because  he  valued  the  opportunity  of  counsel 
with  many  of  the  Right  Reverend  Fathers,  whom 
he  had  never  met  before. 

He  preached  before  the  great  body  of  the  bishops 
and  an  enormous  concourse  of  people  at  St.  Paul's, 
on  behalf  of  the  S.P.G.,  in  July.  In  the  same  year 
he  preached  the  sermon  at  the  Sheffield  Church 
Congress,  and  took  for  his  subject  the  work  of  the 
Holy  Spirit.  Of  this  sermon  I  quote  the  concluding 
paragraph  :— 

Men  and  brethren,  may  He  not  be  grieved,  may  He 
not  be  resisted  and  provoked  by  ourselves  ?  He  is  the 


288      LIFE   OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

Spirit  of  Truth.  Every  wilful  leaning  to  error,  every  de- 
parture from  the  plain  teaching  of  His  inspired  Word, 
must  be  grieving  to  Him.  He  is  the  Spirit  of  Holiness. 
Every  deviation  from  purity  in  life  or  doctrine  must  be 
offensive  in  His  sight  He  is  the  Spirit  of  Unity  and 
Concord.  Every  breach  of  mutual  charity,  all  needless  strife 
and  division,  whatsoever  is  foreign  to  brotherly  kindness 
amongst  professing  disciples  of  Christ,  is  a  provocation  to 
the  Spirit.  We  have  need  to  pray  earnestly  for  a  large 
outpouring  of  His  gracious  influence.  Who  can  estimate 
the  effect  on  the  Church  and  on  the  world,  were  there  to 
come  in  these  last  days  such  a  Baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost  ? 
The  parched  desert  would  become  a  fruitful  field  ;  the 
wilderness  would  blossom  as  the  rose.  The  Church  would 
rise  with  renewed  energy  to  her  lofty  vocation,  and  go 
forth  on  the  work  of  evangelisation  fair  as  the  moon,  clear 
as  the  sun,  and  terrible  as  an  army  with  banners.  Such 
an  outpouring  of  the  Holy  Ghost  would  bind  all  hearts  to- 
gether as  one  man,  and  kindle  in  the  Church  a  zeal  like  that 
which  inflamed  Apostles  of  old.  This  would  cause  to  cease 
unseemly  contention  about  matters  in  themselves  indiffer- 
ent ;  this  would  make  us  follow  the  things  which  make  for 
peace,  and  things  wherewith  one  may  edify  another.  The 
strength  of  the  Church,  the  strength  of  each  member  of 
Christ's  mystical  Body,  lies  in  the  felt  Presence  of  the  Lord 
God  the  Spirit.  May  He  vouchsafe  His  special  Presence 
in  the  midst  of  our  gatherings  this  week  ;  may  He  grant 
us  the  spirit  of  charity  and  mutual  forbearance ;  may  He 
guide  us  into  all  truth ;  may  He  impart  the  wisdom 
which  is  from  above,  which  is  first  pure,  then  peaceable, 
gentle,  and  easy  to  be  entreated,  full  of  mercy  and  good 
fruits,  without  partiality  and  without  hypocrisy  !  Then 
shall  this  Congress  be  for  the  glory  of  God  and  the  edifi- 
cation of  His  Church  ;  and  those  who  have  gathered  here 
from  many  distant  homes,  to  be  cheered  and  refreshed  by 
mutual  converse,  will  depart  with  firmer  resolution  than 
ever,  by  the  Grace  of  God,  to  continue  in  the  Faith  and  to 
persevere  in  well-doing,  with  this  promise  to  sustain  and 


THE  SHEFFIELD   CONGRESS.  289 

to  animate — "  The  Spirit  of  Truth  will  guide  you  into  all 
truth,  He  will  show  you  things  to  come." 

The  writer  of  a  leading  article  in  the  Guardian 
of  October  2,  1878,  said — 

Whilst  these  lines  are  being  worked  off  the  Church 
Congress  of  1878  has  assembled  at  Sheffield.  .  .  .  Dr. 
Bickersteth  is  now  considerably  the  oldest  and  most  ex- 
perienced of  the  bishops  of  the  Northern  Province,  and  the 
selection  of  him  as  preacher  on  this  occasion — one  of  no 
small  ecclesiastical  importance  to  that  densely-peopled 
and  ever-growing  district — was  natural  and  right.  He  has 
never  swerved  from  those  views  with  which  his  name  is 
identified,  and  which,  in  their  measure,  led  to  his  promotion 
under  Lord  Palmerston's  Ministry  in  1857;  whilst  yet  he 
has,  on  many  occasions,  manifested  a  just  and  conciliatory 
spirit  towards  those  who  belonged  to  other  parties  in  the 
Church,  and  has  administered  the  ecclesiastical  concerns  of 
a  strong-willed  and  very  numerous  population  with  dili- 
gence and  success. 

In  the  same  month  my  father  preached  two 
sermons  at  Liverpool  on  behalf  of  the  Seamen's 
Orphanage.  At  the  second  of  these,  in  St.  Andrew's 
Church,  a  noteworthy  incident  occurred.  After  an 
earnest  appeal  for  the  Charity  there  was  found  in 
the  offertory  a  massive  gold  chain,  in  addition  to  a 
collection  of  £62  in  money.  A  week  later  came 
the  first  Diocesan  Conference,  of  which  Canon 
Temple  has  given  a  sufficient  account. 

In  1879  the  Bishop  held  his  last  Visitation,  and 
all  through  that  and  the  following  year  there  was  no 
abatement  of  energy  in  his  work.  He  still  accepted 
invitations  to  preach,  one  after  another,  in  unselfish 
disregard  of  the  fact  that  his  strength  was  unequal 

u 


2QO       LIFE    OF  BISHOP   ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

to  the  strain.  In  the  autumn  of  1880,  for  instance, 
he  had  some  public  engagements  every  day  for  many 
weeks.  He  said  to  his  daughter  with  great  satis- 
faction one  morning,  "  Mr.  Oxley  has  asked  me  to 
preach  at  the  Harvest  Festival  at  Grewelthorpe  (a 
little  village  six  miles  from  Ripon),  and  that  fills  up 
my  last  free  day  for  the  next  month  ! " 

At  the  close  of  this  month  of  incessant  work 
came  the  two  days  of  Diocesan  Conference ;  and  a 
serious  breakdown  the  following  week  proved  how 
much  too  heavy  the  long-continued  pressure  had 
been.  It  was  about  this  time,  October,  1880,  that 
unmistakable  signs  appeared  that  his  constitution 
was  undermined,  and  the  doctors  said  that  his  life 
of  active  usefulness  could  only  be  prolonged  by 
much  greater  care  and  abstention  from  unnecessary 
engagements.  He  was  urged  to  discontinue  the 
practice  which  he  had  so  long  maintained  of  early 
rising,  and  to  avail  himself  as  much  as  was  prac- 
ticable of  the  help  of  others. 

In  the  following  spring  he  spent  six  weeks  at 
Bournemouth,  where  Mr.  Spencer  Stanhope  kindly 
placed  at  his  disposal  his  very  comfortable  house, 
among  the  pine  woods  on  the  East  Cliff. 

Bishop  Ryan  was  at  this  time  the  incumbent  of 
St.  Peter's,  and  my  father  enjoyed  opportunities  of 
intercourse  with  him  and  many  other  old  friends, 
amongst  whom  were  Bishop  Perry,  Dean  Close, 
Canon  Carus,  the  Bishop  of  Cashel,  and  Lord  Cairns. 

The  rest  and  change  had  a  good  effect,  and  he 
came  back  quite  capable  of  moderate  work.  But 
the  work  of  the  undivided  diocese  of  Ripon  can 
never  be  regarded  as  moderate,  and  as  yet  there 


HELP   OF  BISHOP  RYAN.  291 

seemed  no  hope  of  its  subdivision.  My  father 
was,  however,  able  to  secure  help  in  his  episcopal 
work  by  presenting  Bishop  Ryan  to  the  living  of 
Middleham. 

During  the  time  of  his  residence  at  Bradford 
Bishop  Ryan  had  rendered  to  my  father  invaluable 
assistance,  as  Archdeacon  of  Craven,  and  in  many 
branches  of  diocesan  work ;  but  there  he  had  been 
burdened  with  the  charge  of  an  immense  parish,  in 
which  he  maintained  a  large  staff  of  curates,  and 
greatly  promoted  church  building  in  the  town. 

Middleham  was  a  less  exacting  post,  and  thence 
Bishop  Ryan  was  able  to  undertake  a  good  deal  of 
episcopal  work  during  the  years  1880-1883. 

In  these  years  my  father  had  to  learn  a  difficult 
lesson.  It  was  hard  for  him  to  refuse  work,  and 
the  nature  of  his  illness  left  him  at  times  much 
depressed.  On  January  i,  1882,  there  is  written  in 
his  diary  the  following  prayer  : — 

To  Thy  mercy  and  loving-kindness  I  humbly  commend 
myself,  O  Heavenly  Father,  and  all  near  and  dear  to  me,  for 
the  coming  year.  Whatever  lies  before  us,  may  we  each 
be  kept  by  Thy  mighty  power  through  Faith  unto  salva- 
tion ;  may  we  be  washed  from  sin  through  the  precious 
Blood  of  Jesus  ;  may  we  be  clothed  with  His  righteousness, 
endued  with  Thy  Holy  Spirit ;  and  may  we  so  fight  the 
good  fight  of  Faith,  and  lay  hold  on  Eternal  life,  that  we 
may  at  length  attain  to  the  bliss  of  the  life  Everlasting, 
through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.  Amen. 

Perhaps  there  was  a  foreboding  of  coming 
trouble,  which  found  utterance  in  words  of  such 
touching  resignation ;  for  two  or  three  days  later 
an  attack  of  serious  illness  laid  him  aside. 


292        LIFE    OF  BISHOP   ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

His  first  public  work  this  year  was  the  ordination 
in  March,  to  which  he  looked  forward  with  special 
interest,  as  his  youngest  son  was  to  be  made  a 
deacon.  The  Bishop  took  no  part  in  the  examina- 
tion, except  to  give  a  very  solemn  address  to  the 
candidates  on  the  Saturday  afternoon  ;  but  he  was 
able  to  go  through  the  Ordination  Service  in  the 
Palace  Chapel  without  fatigue. 

This  ordination  was  to  my  father  a  time  of  deep 
thankfulness,  as  the  fulfilment  of  what  had  long  been 
his  earnest  prayer.  His  other  sons  were  also  settled 
in  life,  and  he  lived  to  see  three  of  them  married,  and 
to  christen  three  little  grandchildren  belonging  to  his 
second  son,  who  was  resident  in  Ripon.  In  days  of 
weakness  and  depression  he  took  the  greatest  de- 
light in  having  these  children  around  him. 

During  all  this  and  the  following  year  my 
father's  health  was  treacherous  and  uncertain.  At 
times  he  felt  so  well  that  he  looked  forward  to 
getting  back  into  regular  work ;  and  as  he  was  only 
sixty-five  at  the  time,  there  was  nothing  in  his  years 
to  forbid  the  hope.  The  doctors  all  noticed  his 
extraordinary  recuperative  power,  and  encouraged 
him  to  believe  that  his  weakness  would  pass  away 
under  the  influence  of  rest  and  careful  nursing.  Sir 
William  Jenner  and  Sir  Andrew  Clark,  no  less  than 
his  usual  medical  attendants,  strongly  dissuaded  him 
from  resignation.  However,  in  1883,  he  felt  that  he 
must  make  further  provision  for  the  needs  of  the 
diocese. 

The  scheme  for  subdivision  was  not  prospering 
at  the  time,  partly  because  of  the  local  jealousy  of 
towns  which  competed  for  the  honour  of  giving  its 


THE   QUESTION  OF  A    SUFFRAGAN.          293 

name  to  the  new  See,  and  partly  because  the  manu- 
facturers of  the  West  Riding  were  suffering  from  a 
prolonged  period  of  unprecedented  depression.  My 
father  felt  the  scheme  would  hardly  take  effect  in  his 
own  lifetime,  but  he  was  determined  to  make  other 
arrangements  for  the  due  oversight  of  the  diocese. 

From  Bishop  Ryan  he  received  the  most  con- 
stant and  ungrudging  help  ;  but  while  he  was  himself 
laid  aside  my  father  did  not  care  to  impose  upon 
one,  however  willing,  so  much  of  the  burden  of 
episcopal  work.  He  therefore  resolved  to  petition 
the  Crown  for  the  appointment  of  a  suffragan,  and 
his  application  was  received  with  sympathetic  kind- 
ness by  Mr.  Gladstone,  who  had  himself  gone  for 
rest  to  Cannes. 

Under  the  Act  of  Henry  VIII.  c.  14,  is  a  list  of 
places  which  were  to  give  their  titles  to  suffragan 
bishops  as  occasion  required,  and  amongst  them  the 
nearest  available  was  Hull.  Hull  is  in  the  diocese  of 
York,  but  the  Archbishop  kindly  wrote  as  follows  :— 

Bishopthorpe,  York,  March  7,  1883. 

My  dear  Bishop, — I  most  truly  hope  that  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  suffragan  in  Bishop  Hellmuth  may  be  blest  to 
the  restoration  of  your  health.  The  anomaly  of  his  being 
Bishop  of  "  Hull  "  is  not  greater  than  is  the  case  of  London 
being  helped  by  «  Bedford." 

The  great  point  is  that  you  should  be  able  to  have 
complete  rest,  and  should  be  able  to  study  your  health. 
By  a  long  day's  work,  and  a  good  one,  you  have  gained 
the  right  (as  men  speak)  to  an  evening's  repose. 

Ever  with  much  regard, 
Yours, 

W.  EBOR. 


2Q4        LIFE    OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

It  is  best  to  give  an  account  of  the  appointment 
of  Bishop  Hellmuth  in  my  father's  own  words,  and 
so  I  quote  the  following  letter  : — 

The  Palace,  Ripon,  March  21,  1883. 

My  Rev.  and  Dear  Brethren, — For  many  months  past 
it  has  pleased  God  to  afflict  me  with  illness,  which  has 
disabled  me  from  the  discharge  of  my  public  duties  as 
Bishop  of  this  large  diocese.  So  far  as  the  business  could 
be  transacted  in  private  or  by  correspondence,  I  trust  that 
my  absence  has  not  been  materially  felt ;  and  through  the 
kind  assistance  of  my  Right  Rev.  Brother,  Bishop  Ryan, 
the  public  duties  of  my  office  have  been  effectively  and 
ably  discharged,  without  interruption.  To  him,  in  common 
with  yourselves,  and  all  to  whom  he  has  ministered  in 
spiritual  things,  I  am  under  a  debt  of  deep  obligation. 
By  the  arrangements  which  I  have  made  with  him,  he 
will  still  continue  to  render  me  the  benefit  of  his  valued 
assistance. 

But  the  time  has  arrived  when  the  diocese  may  reason- 
ably expect  that  some  more  definite  arrangement  should  be 
made  for  the  performance  of  the  duties  of  the  Episcopate. 

I  have  prayerfully  and  anxiously  considered  whether  I 
ought  not  to  resign.  With  a  view  to  guide  me  to  the  right 
decision,  I  have  sought  the  advice  of  many  of  my  brethren 
the  clergy,  and  of  eminent  medical  authorities.  All  the 
opinions,  however,  which  I  have  received,  both  from  the 
clergy,  and  from  Sir  William  Jenner  and  Dr.  Andrew 
Clark,  are  strongly  opp  osed  to  the  idea  of  resignation,  so 
long  as  a  probability  remains,  which  the  latter  tell  me  is 
still  the  case,  that  a  period  of  rest  may  by  God's  blessing, 
be  the  means  of  enabling  me  to  resume  my  accustomed 
work.  Yielding  to  their  earnest  advice,  I  have  petitioned 
the  Crown  to  grant  me  a  suffragan  bishop.  Her  Majesty 
has  most  graciously  acceded  to  my  request,  and  arrange- 
ments are  now  in  progress  by  which  I  trust  that  in  a  short 
time  the  Right  Rev.  Dr.  Hellmuth,  at  present  Bishop  of 
Huron,  will  become  suffragan  for  this  diocese,  under  the 


BISHOP  HELLMUTH.  295 

title  of  Bishop  of  Hull.  He  is  now  in  America,  for  the 
purpose  of  resigning  his  Canadian  See,  and  expects  to 
return  in  the  course  of  the  summer,  to  help  me  in  the  work 
of  this  diocese. 

I  sincerely  commend  him  to  your  sympathy  and  prayers. 
To  some  of  you  he  is  already  known,  and  I  am  persuaded, 
the  more  fully  you  become  acquainted  with  him,  the  more 
you  will  learn  to  appreciate  his  many  claims,  of  piety, 
talent,  and  zeal,  to  your  confidence  and  affectionate  regard. 
It  is  my  earnest  prayer,  in  which  I  ask  you  to  unite  with 
me,  that  these  arrangements  may,  by  God's  blessing,  tend 
to  the  spread  of  true  religion,  to  the  efficiency  of  His 
Church  in  this  diocese,  and  that,  if  it  be  His  Will,  I  may 
be  once  more  permitted  to  resume  the  work  in  which  I 
have  found  so  much  happiness  for  nearly  thirty  years  past. 

For  all  the  unwearied  kindness  you  have  shown  me 
during  the  many  years  I  have  laboured  amongst  you,  for 
your  zealous  co-operation  with  me  in  every  good  work,  and 
for  your  patient  forbearance  under  the  trial  of  protracted 
illness,  I  heartily  thank  you,  and  pray  God  to  requite  you. 
May  He  grant  you  the  privilege  of  witnessing  the  success 
of  all  your  endeavours  to  advance  the  welfare  of  the  Church, 
of  which  you  are  ministers  ;  and  may  He  finally  bring  us 
all  to  share  in  the  blessedness  of  His  Eternal  Kingdom,  for 
Jesus  Christ's  sake. 

Believe  me,  my  Reverend  and  Dear  Brethren, 
Yours  most  faithfully  and  sincerely, 

R.  RIPON. 

To  the   Venerable  the  Archdeacons,  the  Rev.  the  Rural 
Deans,  and  the  Clergy  of  the  Diocese  of  Ripon. 

It  turned  out  eventually  that  the  Act  did  not 
allow  one  who  was  already  a  bishop  to  take  the 
title  of  suffragan  ;  but  in  other  ways  the  arrangement 
held  good,  and  my  father  had  the  happiness  of  feel- 
ing that  he  had  secured  for  the  diocese  two  efficient 
coadjutor  bishops. 


296      LIFE    OF  BISHOP   ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

Bishop  Hellmuth  undertook  the  work  of  the 
southern  part  of  the  diocese,  while  Bishop  Ryan 
acted  chiefly  for  the  Archdeaconry  of  Richmond. 

My  father  received  much  encouragement  by 
hearing  from  many  different  sources  that  Bishop 
Hellmuth,  as  well  as  Bishop  Ryan,  was  most  kindly 
received  by  clergy  and  laity  alike ;  and  the  number 
of  Confirmations,  which  continued  to  increase,  showed 
that  there  was  no  lack  of  energy  and  life  in  the 
diocese. 

And  yet,  to  my  father,  personally,  it  was  a  sore 
trial  to  be  laid  aside.  He  loved  his  work,  and  he 
had  left  little  leisure  to  form  for  himself  secondary 
interests  which  would  have  relieved  the  monotony  of 
an  inactive  life. 

The  venerable  Canon  Jackson,  who  had  been 
for  a  long  time  one  of  his  closest  personal  friends 
amongst  the  clergy,  told  the  writer  of  a  touching 
interview  he  had  with  the  Bishop  in  1883. 

My  father  was,  just  then,  considered  too  ill  to 
receive  visitors  ;  but,  hearing  that  Canon  Jackson 
was  in  the  house,  he  wished  him  to  come  to  his 
study.  In  a  few  words  that  came  from  his  very 
heart,  my  father  spoke  of  the  heavy  trial  it  was  that 
he  could  no  longer  preach  Christ,  and  with  some 
penitential  expressions  that  greatly  touched  his 
guest,  he  asked  him  to  kneel  and  pray.  He  was 
comforted  by  the  suggestion  that  the  effort  which  it 
cost  him  not  to  speak  for  Christ  was  proof  of  his 
own  acceptance  with  God. 

It  was  not  the  least  part  of  my  father's  trial 
that  for  many  months  his  strength  was  unequal 
to  the  full  Sunday  services  in  church.  Sometimes 


FAILING  STRENGTH.  297 

he  would  go  to  the  afternoon  service  in  the  cathe- 
dral, and  he  greatly  enjoyed  the  solemn  addresses 
which  Mr.  Aitken  gave  on  week-day  mornings  during 
a  Mission  held  at  Holy  Trinity  Church  in  Ripon. 
Usually,  however,  he  had  to  be  content  with  the 
services  in  his  own  chapel,  or  with  reading  the 
morning  and  evening  prayers  with  his  wife  and 
daughter  quietly  in  his  study. 

To  be  cut  off  from  public  worship  was  a  keener 
trial  to  him  than  to  others,  for  he  had  the  most 
intense  enjoyment  in  all  public  means  of  grace. 
During  the  last  year,  when  he  was  quite  unable  to 
go  to  church,  he  used  frequently  to  receive  the 
Holy  Communion  from  the  hands  of  his  youngest 
son,  who  was  ordained  priest  in  March,  1883. 

The  Bishop  took  the  warmest  interest  in  the 
work  at  All  Saints',  Bradford,  his  son's  first  curacy  : 
he  liked  him  to  come  home  as  often  as  possible, 
accompanied  sometimes  by  one  of  his  brother 
curates,  or  other  clerical  friends.  On  these  occa- 
sions he  would  ask  for  a  full  account  of  their  parish 
work,  and  shared  in  all  the  joys  and  trials  of  a  young 
clergyman's  experience. 

Of  the  last  year  there  is  little  to  tell.  His  life 
was  very  quiet.  He  was  able  to  attend  to  all  busi- 
ness which  could  be  transacted  in  his  own  home ;  to 
answer  letters,  chiefly  by  his  daughter's  hand ;  and, 
on  any  question  submitted  to  him,  his  judgment  was 
as  clear  as  ever.  Sometimes  he  was  able  to  do 
more,  and  sometimes  less ;  and  when  fairly  well,  he 
greatly  liked  to  have  the  clergy,  one  or  two  at  a 
time,  to  stay  for  a  night  or  so,  if  there  was  any  point 
on  which  they  desired  his  counsel  and  sympathy. 


298      LIFE    OF  BISHOP   ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

Perhaps  outsiders  foresaw  the  end  more  clearly  than 
those  who  watched  from  day  to  day,  but  it  was 
never  clear  to  those  who  loved  him  most  that  they 
must  give  up  all  hope  of  his  being  restored  to  further 
active  work. 

There  was,  not  unnaturally,  a  little  impatience 
amongst  some  of  the  clergy  at  the  prolonged 
absence  of  the  Bishop  from  public  work  ;  but  a  few 
hasty  letters  in  the  local  press  only  served  to  draw 
out  the  loyal  sympathy,  not  only  of  the  clergy  as  a 
whole,  but  of  the  laity  of  the  diocese,  and  amongst 
them  not  least  that  of  working  men,  who  were  pained 
that  any  should  breathe  a  word  against  one  they 
loved  so  well.  Letters  of  kind  inquiry  and  affec- 
tionate sympathy  kept  pouring  in  from  public  bodies 
and  individuals  alike. 

The  writer  of  a  notice  in  the  Guardian,  signed 
"  J.  G."  (a  signature  known  to  be  that  of  the  Dean 
of  Worcester),  in  speaking  of  the  last  years  said  :— 

To  work  for  Christ  was  to  live  in  Christ  with  him,  and 
even  to  the  end  he  could  only  lay  down  his  service  and  his 
life  together.  Some  blamed  him  for  this,  but  he  felt  that 
he  had  wedded  his  diocese,  his  life  and  his  love  were  hers, 
and  divorce  was  wrong.  .  .  .  The  Bishop  was  living  to 
make  intercession  for  his  people ;  the  manifold  system  of 
spiritual  work  continued  its  great  toil  with  machinery  no 
slower  and  with  fruits  no  fewer.  The  whole  statistics  of 
the  diocese  unite  in  their  witness  to  this  true  undercurrent 
of  work.  He  still  administered  the  diocese,  though  it  was 
through  the  ministry  of  other  hands.  And  even  in  his 
weakest  days  his  own  labours  were  not  wanting — e.g.,  hear- 
ing of  a  working  man  of  Leeds,  who  had  to  emigrate  a  few 
days  before  his  Confirmation,  he  bade  his  vicar  send  him 
straight  to  the  Palace  at  Ripon,  where  he  confirmed  him 


ENTERED  INTO  REST.  299 

privately  in  his  own  chapel,  and  entertained  him  as  his 
guest.  The  writer  heard  from  that  man  on  his  outward 
voyage,  and  at  least  one  Australian  took  into  the  gold-fields 
a  very  true  love  of  his  Father  in  God  in  the  home  Church. 
At  last  he  rests ;  and  the  peace  of  God,  which  he  so 
often  gave  to  others,  has  enfolded  himself  and  his  life-long 
toil. 

My  father  spent  the  winter  of  1883-4  at  Bourne- 
mouth, and  returned  to  Ripon  in  March.  Almost 
the  last  words  in  his  diary  record  the  deep  thankful- 
ness with  which  once  more  he  reached  his  home. 
He  now  seemed  very  much  better,  and  when  he  saw 
Bishop  Hellmuth  on  the  2nd  of  April,  he  made 
arrangements  with  the  consent  of  his  doctors  to  take 
his  Trinity  Ordination  himself;  but,  alas!  there  was 
not  to  be,  as  he  hoped,  a  renewal  of  active  work. 
The  recuperative  power  was  at  last  exhausted,  and 
the  voice  which  had  stirred  Yorkshire  hearts  so 
deeply  was  to  be  heard  no  more. 

Holy  Week  and  Easter  passed,  but  the  Bishop 
could  not  go  to  church.  On  the  Monday  he  seemed 
unusually  well.  He  answered  his  letters,  arranged  for 
the  institution  of  some  clergymen  a  few  days  later, 
drove  out  in  the  afternoon,  and  in  the  evening  he 
read  aloud  to  his  family  and  conducted  prayers  for 
the  household.  He  was  looking  forward  to  Easter 
Tuesday,  as  the  day  on  which  he  would  receive  his 
Easter  Communion  from  his  son,  fresh  from  the 
work  of  Holy  Week  in  Bradford  ;  but  his  longing  for 
union  with  the  Risen  Saviour  was  to  be  satisfied 
more  fully  than  he  foresaw.  Early  that  morning, 
April  1 5th,  he  was  seized  with  another  sudden 
attack  of  illness,  and  never  spoke  again.  All  the 


300      LIFE    OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

morning  he  lay  unconscious,  and,  happily,  free  from 
pain.  The  son,  who  had  come  home  cheered  with  a 
better  account,  was  only  able  to  be  with  him  for  an 
hour,  and  then  breathe  the  Commendatory  Prayer 
as,  at  1.30,  the  Bishop  passed  away. 

The  blow  at  last  was  terribly  sudden  and  unex- 
pected by  his  family  and  the  public,  but  he  himself 
probably  felt  that  the  end  would  come  as  it  did. 

Certainly  he  was  not  unprepared.  For  years  he 
had  lived  as  all  of  us  would  like  to  live  if  we  knew 
that  the  passing  day  would  be  our  last.  In  his 
constant  recollection  of  the  Presence  of  God,  in  his 
ardent  desire  to  depart  and  be  with  Christ,  he  was 
only  waiting  till  the  call  should  come,  "  Well  done, 
good  and  faithful  servant :  enter  thou  into  the  joy  of 
Thy  Lord." 

Of  a  fathers  personal  religious  life,  a  son  has  no 
right  to  speak ;  but  none  who  knew  him  could  fail  to 
see  that  he  lived,  to  use  an  expression  often  on  his 
lips,  when  speaking  to  others  about  spiritual  things, 
very  near  to  God. 

The  orderly  arrangement  of  books  and  papers, 
the  thoughtful  care  with  which  directions  were  left, 
was  like  that  of  a  traveller  who  was  packing  up  for 
a  journey  into  a  far  country,  and  yet  thought  more 
of  those  he  left  behind  than  of  what  might  befall 
himself. 

This  was  the  habit  of  a  life,  and  my  father  used 
often  to  thank  God  that  he  had  lived  long  enough 
to  see  his  children  settled,  and  to  make  due  provision 
for  those  whom  he  left  behind.  And  if  it  seemed 
hard  that  he  should  pass  away  at  sixty-seven,  while 
other  men  are  strong  beyond  the  threescore  years 


THE  PARADISE  OF  GOD.  30 1 

and  ten,  it  was  clear  that  he  had  done  a  long  life's 
work.  And  the  best  rest  when  life's  work  is  over, 
is  not  the  calm  decay  of  a  long  old  age,  but  the  rest 
of  the  blessed  dead  in  the  Paradise  of  God. 

There,  in  the  Presence  of  Jesus,  with  the  spirits 
of  just  men  made  perfect,  "  till  the  morning  breaks, 
and  the  shadows  flee  away,"  rests  one,  who,  if  less 
stained  with  sin  than  others,  yet  offered  as  his  only 
plea,  and  claimed  as  his  only  righteousness,  the 
spotless  robe  of  Christ. 

Those  who  lost  most  by  his  death,  have  cause  to 
say  most  fervently,  "  We  also  bless  Thy  Holy  Name 
for  Thy  servant  departed  this  life  in  Thy  faith  and 
fear ;  beseeching  Thee  to  give  us  grace  so  to  follow 
his  good  example,  that  with  him  we  may  be  partakers 
of  Thy  heavenly  Kingdom." 


302      LIFE   OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 


The  words  surrounding  the  grave  are  as  follows  :  — 


to  tfje  Jtflemorg  of 
ROBERT   BICKERSTETH,  D.D., 

BISHOP  OF  RIPON. 

BORN  AUGUST  24,  1816. 

CONSECRATED  JANUARY  18,  1857. 

ENTERED  INTO  REST  ON  EASTER  TUESDAY,  APRIL  15,  1884. 

The  texts  upon  the  cross  are  :— 

"  Be  thou  faithful  unto  death,  and  I  will  give  thee  a  Crown  of  Life." 

"  They  that  be  wise  shall  shine  as  the  brightness  of  the  firmament  ; 
and  they  that  turn  many  to  righteousness  as  the  stars  for  ever  and 
ever." 


THE   FUNERAL.  303 


On  Saturday,  April  19,  the  Bishop  was  laid 
to  rest  beneath  the  shadow  of  the  Minster  Church. 
There  is  no  need  to  speak  of  the  heartfelt  sympathy 
and  profound  regret  with  which  the  city  of  Ripon, 
and  the  diocese  at  large,  followed  to  the  grave  their 
beloved  Diocesan.  Churchmen  and  Dissenters  alike 
strove  to  show  every  mark  of  respect  to  his  memory  ; 
and  though,  in  accordance  with  his  known  desire,  the 
arrangements  for  the  last  service  were  of  studied 
simplicity,  the  multitude  of  mourners  showed  a 
spontaneous  tribute  of  reverential  love.  Canon 
Pulleine  wrote  in  his  parish  magazine  a  touching 
notice  which  supplies  all  that  need  be  said,  and  is 
here  reproduced  : — 

In  the  morning  the  Bishop's  family  and  household 
received  the  Holy  Communion  in  the  Palace  Chapel,  at  the 
hands  of  Bishop  Ryan  and  Canons  Badcock  and  Pulleine. 
The  coffin  had  been  brought  into  the  chapel  the  evening 
before,  and  was  covered  with  wreaths,  crosses,  and  palm 
branches,  which  had  been  sent  by  private  friends  and,  in 
some  cases,  by  parishes  and  institutions  with  which  he  had 
been  specially  connected.  Among  the  latter  were  offerings 
from  Ripon  Cathedral,  Leeds  and  Bradford  Parish  Churches, 
All  Saints'  Bradford,  and  St.  Mark's  Low  Moor,  the  first 
church  consecrated  by  the  Bishop  after  his  own  consecration. 

As  the  sun  shone  softly  in  upon  the  quiet  congregation 
of  mourners,  the  peace  of  the  dead  was  bestowed  upon  the 
living,  and  we  felt  that  we  were  still  worshipping  with  him 
whose  spirit  had  passed  into  Paradise,  and  we  realised  our 
faith  in  the  Communion  of  Saints,  which  has  brought  such 
infinite  comfort  to  mourners  in  all  ages. 

A  few  hours  later,  at  the  Cathedral,  a  large  multitude 
had  gathered,  and  in  the  centre  of  the  nave  two  hundred 
clergy  formed  a  passage,  along  which  was  to  be  carried 
the  body  of  their  chief. 


304      LIFE    OF  BISHOP   ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

The  service  was  simple,  solemn,  and  stately  as  was 
meet,  the  subdued  music  comforting  and  inspiring.  The 
"  Dead  March "  was  followed  by  the  three  opening  sen- 
tences, which  so  beautifully  represent  the  voice  of  the 
Saviour,  the  voice  of  the  dead,  and  the  voice  of  the 
mourner.  The  softly  chanted  psalms,  the  well-known 
hymns,  "  O  God,  our  help  in  ages  past,"  and  "  Lead,  kindly 
Light,"  were  all  in  sad  harmony  with  our  feelings.  Then 
we  went  forth  to  the  grave,  in  a  quiet  nook  beneath  the 
Cathedral  wall,  and  laid  him  there  at  rest. 

"  Brother,  thou  art  gone  before  us." 

The  sympathy  of  unnumbered  friends  was 
lavished  on  the  widow  and  the  children  who  had 
lost  so  much,  and  to  quote  all  the  treasured  letters 
which  have  special  interest  for  them  would  be  an 
endless  task ;  but  there  are  some  which  will  interest 
a  wider  circle. 

Bishop  Fraser  of  Manchester,  Bishop  Jackson 
of  London,  and  Bishop  Woodford  of  Ely,  are  now 
resting  with  my  father  in  the  Paradise  of  God. 
Each  of  them  has  left  behind  a  record  of  strenuous 
work  and  devoted  service,  and  there  lie  before  me 
the  letters  in  which  they  speak  of  my  father's  death. 

London  House,  St.  James's  Square,  S.W.,  April  21,  1884. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Bickersteth, — Now  the  last  sad  parting  is 
over  I  cannot  refrain  from  telling  you  how  truly  I  have 
sympathised  with  you  and  yours  in  your  sudden  and  heavy 
sorrow.  ...  I  was  much  disappointed  when  I  called  a  few 
weeks  ago  in  Cromwell  Road,  and  found  that  you  had  all 
already  left  London.  I  regret  it  still  more  now.  May 
God  in  His  mercy  grant  us  a  meeting  hereafter  in  the 
Church  beyond  the  grave.  I  have  always  regarded  Bishop 
Bickersteth  as  a  model  of  unsparing  hard  work — too  un- 


LETTERS   OF  SYMPATHY.  305 

sparing,  perhaps,  for  his  physical  powers  ;  but  his  heart 
was  in  his  diocese,  and  he  obeyed,  without  stint,  his  heart's 
impulse.  He  might  have  been  spared  to  work  longer  if  he 
had  worked  less  strenuously. 

To  him  the  weakening  of  his  strength  must  have  been 
peculiarly  trying ;  and  there  is  comfort  in  the  belief  that 
this  sudden  summons  was  the  Master's  call  of  the  wearied 
labourer  to  his  rest  and  reward.  But  the  loss  to  you  and 
yours  must  be  great  indeed.  May  God  be  near  you  all 
with  His  felt  presence  and  comfort,  is  the  prayer  of 

Yours  truly, 

J.  LONDIN. 

Bishop's  Court,  Manchester,  April  16,  1884. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Bickersteth, — My  dear  wife  and  I  both 
wish  to  offer  you  our  respectful  sympathy  on  the  death  of 
the  Bishop,  your  husband.  .  .  .  He  had  a  special  claim 
upon  my  affection,  because  he  was  one  of  my  Consecrators, 
and  his  was  one  of  the  hands  placed  on  my  head  when 
I  was  sent  forth  to  the  same  work  which  he  so  long  and 
faithfully  fulfilled.  For  himself,  he  has  exchanged  a  life 
which,  I  fear,  for  some  time  has  been  a  life  of  suffering,  for 
one  of  which  we  are  told  "  there  shall  be  no  more  pain  " 
there,  and  which  will  bring  him  nearer  to  the  Master  Whom 
he  has  served. 

The  respect  in  which  he  was  ever  held  will  be  not  the 
least  of  the  many  comforts  that  you  and  his  family  will 
feel  as  often  as  they  dwell  upon  his  memory.  I  can  never 
forget  his  much-valued  personal  kindness  towards  myself. 

I  am,  with  my  wife's  kind  remembrances  also, 

Yours  very  sincerely, 

J.  MANCHESTER. 

Bishop  Woodford,  who  had  a  special  connection 
with  the  diocese,  as  a  former  Vicar  of  Leeds,  would 
have  preached  at  Ripon  on  the  Sunday  following 


306      LIFE   OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

my  father's  death,  had  it  been  possible  to  postpone 
some  diocesan  engagements. 
He  wrote  as  follows  : — 

Ely  House,  37,  Dover  Street,  W.,  Sunday  morning. 

My  dear  Mr.  Bickersteth,  —  I  only  received  your 
telegram  late  last  evening,  on  my  return  to  London  from 
a  series  of  Confirmations  in  Huntingdonshire — too  late  to 
send  an  answer  until  to-day.  .  .  .  And  now,  may  I  say  how 
deeply,  how  very  deeply  I  mourned  with  you  for  your  father  ? 
I  conceived  a  true  affection  for  him  whilst  I  was  at  Leeds, 
and  never  in  my  whole  clerical  life  have  I  been  so  happy 
under  the  authority  of  any  one,  as  I  felt  under  his  large- 
hearted  and  kindly  rule.  I  shall  always  have  a  sincere 
reverence  for  him  as  a  Bishop,  and  affectionately  cherish 
his  memory  as  a  friend. 

Will  you  give  my  best  remembrances  to  your  mother 
and  the  other  members  of  your  family  ?  .  .  . 
Believe  me, 

Ever  yours  most  truly, 
J.  R.  ELY. 

The  following  address  to  my  mother  was  pre- 
pared by  the  archdeacons,  and  signed  by  every 
clergyman  in  the  diocese  : — 

The  Archdeacons,  Rural  Deans,  and  Clergy  of  the 
Archdeaconries  of  Craven  and  Richmond,  desire  to  present 
to  Mrs.  Bickersteth  and  Family  the  expression  of  their 
sincere  sympathy,  in  the  heavy  affliction  with  which  it  has 
pleased  the  Almighty  to  visit  them.  They  earnestly  pray 
that  the  abundance  of  Heavenly  consolation  may  be  ex- 
tended to  them  in  this  their  time  of  sorrow  ;  and  trust 
that  the  remembrance  of  the  late  Bishop's  Christian 
character  and  his  many  excellent  qualities,  may  shed  the 
balm  of  its  happy  and  soothing  influence  over  them. 

To  form  any  proper  estimate  of  our  late  Bishop's  work 
in  the  Diocese,  we  must  carry  our  minds  back  for  over  a 


ADDRESS  FROM  ARCHDEACONS  AND  CLERGY.     307 

quarter  of  a  century,  when  his  Lordship  commenced  that 
system  of  Episcopal  administration,  which  he  for  many 
years  maintained  with  untiring  zeal,  so  valuable  to  the 
Church  at  large,  but  most  laborious  and  trying  to  himself. 
These  continued  efforts  were  fully  recognised  at  the  time, 
and  ought  never  to  be  forgotten.  We  therefore  wish  to 
testify  our  deep  sense  of  our  late  Bishop's  worth,  of  the 
value  of  his  work,  and  our  estimation  of  him  as  a  Christian 
chief  Pastor,  by  presenting  to  his  bereaved  Widow  and 
Family  this  assurance  of  our  heartfelt  sympathy,  and 
prayers  for  their  comfort  at  the  throne  of  Grace. 

(Signed) 

To  Mrs.  Bickersteth)  the  Palace,  Ripon. 

A  well-known  layman  wrote  as  follows  :— 

.  .  .  My  warm  regard  for  the  good  and  able  Bishop, 
now  lost  to  this  diocese,  began  many  years  ago.  It  was 
not  long  after  his  consecration  that,  at  my  father's  house 
at  Dewsbury,  he  joined  me  in  more  than  one  long  country 
walk  when  stopping  with  us ;  and  by  his  gentle  and 
elevated  wisdom  did  much  to  purify  and  elevate  the 
thoughts  of  one,  like  myself,  just  entering  into  life.  And 
ever  since  that  time,  whenever  we  met,  he  so  kindly  re- 
membered me,  and  entered  into  my  thoughts  and  prospects 
so  pleasantly  and  cordially. 

It  is  hard  for  us  all,  as  we  grow  older,  to  feel  ourselves 
stripped  of  our  leaders  and  wise  elders,  and  pushed  alone 
to  the  front.  And  if  I  feel  this  in  the  present  instance, 
how  terrible  must  be  the  blank  in  the  dear  home  to  your 
mother  and  sister,  and  how  you  must  all  feel  the  chief  stay 
and  centre  of  your  lives  has  been  removed.  May  the 
bright  and  noble  example  of  him  who  has  now  gone 
before,  comfort  and  support  you  all  in  this  trial.  .  .  . 

The  last  letter  is  from  one  who  should  not  be 
nameless,    for  the  name  of  Canon  Jackson  is  in- 


308      LIFE   OF  BISHOP  ROBERT  BICKERSTETH. 

separably  linked  with  Ripon  diocesan  history,  since 
the  days  when  he  served,  under  Dr.  Hook,  as  senior 
Curate  of  the  Leeds  Parish  Church. 

Leeds,  May  i,  1884. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Bickersteth, — The  sight  of  your  writing 
has  affected  me  more  than  anything  since  I  stood  by  the 
grave,  at  the  corner  of  the  Minster. 

Then  it  was  difficult,  and  almost  more  than  could  be 
borne,  to  believe  he  was  lying  there ;  he,  so  wonderfully  the 
ideal  of  calm  strength  and  innate  vigour ;  he,  so  fully  the 
impersonation  of  directing  and  controlling  authority,  of  a 
strength  and  ready  wisdom  on  which  all  around  him  could 
so  fully  and  confidently  rely ;  he,  so  indeed  one,  who,  it 
seemed,  ought  not  to  die !  Yet,  there  he  was ;  and  the 
wrench  to  one  who  had  known  him,  and  known  his  value 
from  his  first  coming  into  the  diocese,  was  great  indeed. 

But  now  to  see  your  writing — as  his  widow  ;  you,  who 
were  so  bound  to  him,  and  bound  up  with  him  ;  whose  life 
was  one  full  sacrifice  and  offering  for  him — for  his  comfort, 
for  his  safety,  for  his  success !  I  laid  down  the  letter, 
and  memory  brought  back  you  and  him  standing  in  the 
drawing-room,  one  of  the  last  times  I  was  at  the  Palace ; 
he  so  pale  and  languid,  you  so  worn  and  anxious — the 
intensity  of  feeling  on  both  sides  bringing  one's  self  into 
sympathy  with  it.  The  exclamation  rose  to  my  lips,  "How 
can  she  live  without  him  !  "  And  yet,  my  dear  friend,  you 
will  live,  and  live  as  he  would  wish  you  to  live.  You  will 
still  live  with  him,  and  even  for  him — live  to  be  again 
with  him,  and,  until  then,  to  serve  all  those  interests  which 
were  alike  dear  to  him  and  to  you. 

For  myself,  I  only  wonder  that  I  should  survive  him — 
I  so  feeble  for  years  back — he  then  so  likely  to  live  to  pro- 
tracted age.  .  .  .  You  will  have  peace,  for  you  know  where 
and  how  to  obtain  it ;  and  there  will  be  quiet,  calm  even- 
tide, and  softened  beams  of  light,  and  the  feeling  of  his 


LETTER   FROM  CANON  JACKSON.  309 

dear  presence,  and  of  your  most  true  and  ever-enduring 
union  with  each  other,  in  the  fulness  of  His  love,  which  we 
humbly,  but  confidently,  believe  our  beloved  Bishop  now 
enjoys. 

With  my  Christian  love, 

I  am,  my  dear  friend,  yours  truly, 

ED.  JACKSON. 


INDEX 


Aberdeen,  Earl  of,  67 

Acton,  19-25,  28,  29,  30,  34,  88 

Addington,  286 

Akroyd,  Colonel,  151,  270 

Alford,  Henry,  Dean  of  Canterbury,  21 

Apothecaries'  Hall,  34 

Armley,  St.  Bartholomew's  Church,  152 

Arncliffe,  269 

Athanasian  Creed,  196 

Atonement,  Doctrine  of  the,  197 

Bad  cock,  Rev.  Canon,  218,  219 

Baines,  Sir  E.,  119 

Baring,  Dr.,  Bishop  of  Durham,  191, 

192 

Barningham,  270 
Barnsley,  108,  no 
Barry,    Dr.,  Metropolitan   of   Sydney, 

IOI,   IO2 

Batty,  Dr.,  4 

Batty,  Elizabeth,  3 

Beaconsfield,  Earl  of,  189-192,  215 

Beddome,  R.,  Esq.,  56 

Bible  Society,  80,  100 

Bickersteth,    Edward,  Dean   of  Lich- 

field,  6,  23,  28,  42,  84,  164 
Bickersteth,    Rev.  Edward,  Rector  of 

Watton,  3,  5,  28,  36,  41,  86,  137 
Bickersteth,  Edward  Ernest,  138-142, 

286 
Bickersteth,  Edward  Henry,  Bishop  of 

Exeter,  5,  6 


Bickersteth,  Elizabeth,  21 
Bickersteth,  Dr.  Henry,  Cape  of  Good 

Hope,  6 
Bickersteth,  Dr.  Henry,  Kirkby  Lons- 

dale,  3 
Bickersteth,  Henry,  Lord  Langdale,  4, 

5,  32,  57 

Bickersteth,  James,  3 
Bickersteth,  Rev.  John,  5,  7,  9,  19,  21- 

31  ;  letters  from,  8,  9,  29-32 
Bickersteth,  Mrs.  John,  9-17 
Bickersteth,  Dr.  Robert,  Liverpool,  6 
Bishopthorpe,  88 
Blake,  A.  R.,  Esq.,  182 
Bolton  Abbey,  283 
Bounty  Board,  192 
Bowes,  270,  271 

Bradford,  54,  85,  96,  97,  105,  172,  246 
Bradford,  All  Saints'  Church,  151,  303 
Bradley,  Rev.  C.,  42 
Braithwaite,  I.,  Esq.,  iSS 
Brenchley,  66 

British  Orphan  Asylum,  54,  55 
Broad  Church  party,  59 
Burnett,  Rev.  D.,  277 

Cairns,  first  Earl,  290 
Cambridge,  36,  37,  86,  87 
Carus,  Rev.  Canon,  8,  290 
Cascailles,  275 
Cashel,  Bishop  of,  290 
Cawthorne,  278 


312 


INDEX. 


Champneys,  Dean  of  Lichfield,  179 

Charges,  extracts  from,  26,  91-96,  106- 
108,  119,  150,  168-170,  196-211, 
216,  217,  221-231,  240,  241,  246 

Church  Bells,  193 

Church  Congress,  Leeds,  254—261 

Church  Congress,  Sheffield,  287-289 

Church  Extension,  147 

Church  Missionary  Society,  72 

Church  Restoration,  148,  152 

Cintra,  Portugal,  273-277 

Clapham,  54,  55,  188 

Clapham,  curacy  of  Parish  Church,  42, 

43 

"  Clapham  Sect,"  32,  129 
Clapham,  St.  John's  Church,  43,   44, 

46,  54,  etseq.,  88 
Clark,  Sir  A.,  292,  294 
Clarkson,  7,  32 

Clayton,  Rev.  Canon,  99,  163,  279 
Close,  Dean  of  Carlisle,  179,  290 
Cobb,  Rev.  C.,  44,  45,  no,  143,  144, 

170 

Confirmations,  114,  132,  269-272 
Convocation,  Northern,  175 
Cook,  Sir  Francis,  273,  et  seq. 
Cope,  in  Ripon  Cathedral,  212 
Courthope,  G.  C.,  Esq.,  66,  67 
Cranworth,  Lord,  67 
Crosse,  Dr.,  Norwich,  33 

Dallas,  Rev.  A.,  49,  50 
Dealtry,  Dr.,  42,  43 
Deceased  Wife's  Sister's  Bill,  176 
Devotional  books,  12-14 
Dilapidation  Act,  124 
Diocesan  Calendar,  Ripon,  145 
Diocesan  Conference,  Ripon,  262-266 
Disestablishment,  32,  256 
Disestablishment  of  Irish  Church,  180, 

et  seq. 

Dissent,  28,  109,  116,  118 
Domesday  Book,  19 
Dotheboys  Hall,  271 
Drummond,  Professor,  I,  3 

Eardley,  Sir  Culling,  67 
Ecclesiastical  Commission,  193 


Education,  218,  220,  221,  224,  et  seq. 
Emery,  Archdeacon,  255 
English  Church  Union,  215 
Erskine,  Dean  of  Ripon,  126 

'  Essays  and  Reviews,"  195 

'Esto  Fidelis,"  18 
Eton,  139,  142 
Evangelical  Alliance,  28 
Evangelical  Bishops,  86,  87,  193 
Evangelicals,  2,  4,  9,   n,   12,  13,  15- 

7,  27,  30,  32 
Evangelical  movement,  origin  of  the,  7 
Evans,  Rev.  L.  M.,  283,  284 
Exeter  Hall,  51,  193 

Forbes,  Dr.,  Bishop  of  Brechin,  260,  261 
Forster,  Right  Hon.  W.  E.,  223 
Foundling  Hospital,  66 
Eraser,  Dr. ,  Bishop  of  Manchester,  84, 

213,  304,  305 

Fremantle,  Dr.,  Dean  of  Ripon,  284; 
letter  from,  136 

Garde,  Joseph,  Esq.,  44 

Garde,  Rev.  R.,  44 

"Gig  Bishops,"  no 

Gladstone,    Right   Hon.   W.    E.,    189, 

190,  293 

Goode,  Dr.,  Dean  of  Ripon,  190 
Goodier,  Rev.  J.  H.,  284 
"  Gorham  Case,"  4 
Gott,  Dr.,  Dean  of  Worcester,  166,  215, 

237-239,  245,  248,  284 
Grainger,  Rev.  T.  C.,  42 
Green,  Rev.  C.  S.,  283 
Green,  Rev.  S.  F.,  215 
Grey,  Lord  (of  the  first  Reform  Bill),  21 
Grey,  Hon.  and  Rev.  Francis,  21 
Grey,  Hon.  and  Rev.  John,  21,  41 
Guardian,  289 
Guernsey,  St.  Mary's  Church,  41 

Halifax,  151,  278,  283 

Hamilton,  Dr.,  Bishop  of  Salisbury,  67, 

79,  80-82 

Harcourt,  Mrs.  Danby  Vernon,  282 
Harrogate,  283 
Hawes,  269 


INDEX. 


313 


Hawtrey,  Rev.  S.,  35,  41 

Hay,  Lord  John,  33 

Hay,  Lord  Thomas,  21 

Headlam,  Dr.,  271 

Hellmuth,  Bishop,  293,  et  seq. 

Herbert,  Rev.  George,  79 

Home  life,  121,  et  seq. 

Hook,  Dr.,  Dean  of  Chichester,  96-98, 

100-103,  105,  113,  117,  179,  266 
Hooker,  quoted,  210 
Hospital,  Guy's,  34 
Hospital,  St.  Thomas's,  34 
House  of  Lords,   123,  175  ;  speeches, 

49,  ifaetseq. 
Howe,  Lady,  19 
Huddersfield,  172,  231,  246 
Hull,  293 
Hymns,  129 

Inspiration,  197,  198,  et  seq. 

Irish  Church,  disestablishment,  49,  54 

Irish  Church  Missions,  49,  72,  80,  85 

Jackson,  Dr.,  Bishop  of  London,  213, 

304,  305 

Jackson,  Rev.  Canon,  284,  307-309 
Jacobson,  Bishop  of  Chester,  84 
James,  A.  C,  Esq.,  139 
Jenner,  Sir  William,  292,  294 

Kemp,  Rev.  Canon,  145 
Kennion,  Rev.  G.  W.,  Bishop  of  Ade- 
laide, 134,  158-161,  241 
Kingsley,  Rev.  C.,  II,  121 
Kirkby  Lonsdale,  3,  4 

Lambeth,  287 

Lang,  Henrietta,  9 

Leaky,  Rev.  A.,  19 

Leeds,  96,  172,  216,  236,  246,  248,  249, 

271,  282,  303 

Leeds,  All  Souls'  Church,  152 
Leeds,  Clergy  School,  166-168 
Leeds,  Lecture,  Philosophical  Society, 

60,  et  seq. 
Letters  of  Bishop  Bickersteth,    to  his 

wife,  55,   122,  123,   188,  274,  275, 

276,  277 ;  to  the  Dean  of  Lichfield, 


42,  164-166  ;  to  his  children,  130- 
134 ;  to  a  non-resident  incumbent, 
154-156  ;  to  clergymen  in  diocese, 
195,  214,  215  ;  Pastoral  on  behalf 
of  Leeds  Mission,  253  ;  on  appoint- 
ment of  suffragan,  294,  295 

Lightfoot,  Dr.,  Bishop  of  Durham,  192 

Limborough  Lectureship,  43 

Lisbon,  273,  277 

Liverpool,  289 

London,  188,  192,  193 

London,  St.  Giles's,  54-60,  65-69,  71, 
73,88 

Longley,  Dr.,  Bishop  of  Ripon,  and 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  90,  etsey,, 
124,  153 

Long  Melford,  24 

Lowmoor,  St.  Mark's  Church,  304 

Lowther,  Sir  Charles,  270 

Lyttelton,  Hon.  and  Rev.  A.,  141 

Martyn,  Rev.  H.,  8 
Mason,  P.,  Esq.,  37,  38 
McCaul,  Rev.  Dr.,  177 
McNeile,  Dr.,  Dean  of  Ripon,  135,  212 
Meanwood,  278 
Melville,  Rev.  Henry,  35-37 
Methodism,  97 
Michell,  J.,  Esq.,  270 
Milbank,  Mark,  Esq.,  270 
Missions,  238,  239,  246-254 
Monserrate,  Cintra,  273 
Morritt,  R.  A.,  Esq.,  270 
Mozley,  Rev.  J.  B.,  6 
Musgrave,  Dr.,  Archbishop  of  York, 
88,  175,  176 

National  Church,  27 

National  Club,  188 

Navvy  Mission  Society,  282-285 

Netherthong,  148,  278 

Newman,  Dr.,  191 

Nonconformists,  164-166  (see  Dissent) 

North  Leys,  124,  125 

Northumberland,  Duchess  Eleanor   of, 

270 
Norwich,  33,  34 


INDEX. 


Nunn,  Rev.  H.  D.  Cust,  266 

Ordination,  38 

Ordination  reminiscences,  172-174 

Ordinations   at   Ripon,    38,    162,  163, 

170-172,  292 
Ottley,  Rev.  L.,  21,  88 
Oxley,  Rev.  W.,  290 

Paget,  Sir  James,  273 

Palmerston,  Lord,  85,  86,  278,  289 

Pan- Anglican  Synod,  287 

Paris,  34 

Patronage,  278-280 

Pearson,  Rev.  H.,  259 

Pelham,  Dr.,  Bishop  of  Norwich,  21, 

etseq.,  34 
Perry,  Bishop,  290 
Phillips,  Dr.,  37 
Pickhill,  278 
Plunket,  Lord,  Archbishop  of  Dublin, 

54 

Pope,  Rev.  G.,  277 
Powell,  F.  S.,  Esq.,  151 
Preaching,  104,  et  seq. 
Public  Worship  Regulation  Act,  215 
Pudsey,  278 

Pulleine,  Rev.  Canon,  216,  303 
Purchas  Judgment,  212 

Railway  accident,  272,  273 
Rand,  John,  Esq.,  270 
Rationalism,  198-200 
Rawson,  Miss,  of  Nydd,  270 
Rawson,  W.  H.,  Esq.,  270 
Reading,  St.  Giles,  Curacy  of,  42,  88 
Real  Presence,  204-211 
Redesdale,  Lord,  175 
Reformation,  194,  200 
Reform  Bill,  32 

Retreats  for  Clergy,  237,  239-245 
Richmond,  George,  Esq.,  R.A.,  88 
Richmond,  Yorkshire,  21,  57,  88,  172 
Ripon,  35,  216,  271,  290 
Ripon,  Bishopric  of,  84,  90-100 
Ripon  Diocese,  98,  194 
Ripon,  Marquis  of,  151 
Ritualism,  201,  et  seq.,  213-215 


Rokeby,  278 

Romanism,  48-50,  72,  73,  276,  277 

Romaldkirk,  270 

Rural  Deans'  meetings  at  the  Palace, 

Ripon,  266-268 
Russell,  Lord,  278 
Ryan,  Bishop,  88,  277,  279,  290,  et  seq. 

Salisbury,  67,  78,  81-83,  89 

Sant,  J.,  Esq.,  R.A.,  138 

Sapcote,  25,  29-31,  35,  39,  41,  42,  79, 

88 

Sedburgh,  269 
Self-examination,  14-17 
Sermons,  extracts  from,  39,  247,  287, 

288 

Shaft esbury,  Lord,  71,  85 
Sheffield,  Church  Congress,  287-289 
Silsden,  278 

Simeon,  Rev.  C.,  7,  9,  99 
Sisterhoods,  70 
Social    condition  of   the    people,   60, 

et  seq. 

Southampton,  273 
Southwark,  35 

Special  services,  47,  109,  238,  248 
Speeches,  extracts  from  Bishop  Bicker- 

steth's,  153,  154,  176-188,  231-235 
Spitalfields,  188 
Stanhope,  278 

Stanhope,  W.  Spencer,  Esq.,  290 
Stanley,  Dean,  5 
Stanwick,  270 

Stephens,  Rev.  W.  R.  W.,  96 
Stonehouse,  286 
"  Strict  churchmanship,"  23 
Sudbury,  24 

Tait,  Archbishop,  86,   122,  215,  286, 

287 

Tait,  Mrs.,  122 
Tait,  Rev.  Craufurd,  122,  286 
Taylor,  Bishop  Jeremy,  21 1 
Temperance,      Church     of     England, 

Society,  282 
Temple,  Rev.  Canon,  167,  254,  et  seq.y 

261-266,  289 
Theological  Colleges,  164,  168,  169 


INDEX. 


315 


Thirlwall,  Dr.,  Bishop  of  St.  David's,  2, 

177,  180 

Thirty-nine  Articles,  196 
Thomson,  Dr.,  Archbishop  of  York,  293 
Thornton,  Henry,  Esq.,  129,  287 
Thorold,  Dr.,  Bishop  of  Rochester,  193 
Tractarianism,  42,  48,  98 
Training  College  at  Ripon,  218,  243 
Tregelles,  Dr.,  177 
Trent,  Council  of,  104 
Trollope,  Archdeacon,  255 
Truro,  Lord,  57 
Turner,  R.  Bickerton,  Esq.,  270 

Venables,  Rev.  Canon,  102,  255 

Vestments,  202,  203 

Villiers,  Dr.,  Bishop  of  Durham/67,  83 

Visitations,  1 12 

Vyner,  Lady  Mary,  151 

Wakefield,  151,  278 
Wakefield,  Bishopric,  264-266 


Waldegrave,  Dr.,  Bishop  of  Carlisle, 

82,  83,;86 

Watts,  G.  F.,  Esq.,  R.A.,  287 
Weavers'  Company,  43 
Webb  Street  Medical  School,  34 
Wheeler,  Mrs.,  reminiscences  of,  40 
Whiting,  Dr.,  34 
Wilberforce,  Dr.  S.,  Bishop  of  Oxford 

and  Winchester,  126,  259 
Wilberforce,  William,  Esq.,  7,  32 
Wilfrid,  St.,  90 

Wilkinson,  Dr.,  Bishop  of  Truro,  249 
Wise,  Samuel,  Esq.,  125,  127 
Wood,  Sir  W.  P.,  100 
Woodford,   Dr.,   Bishop  of  Ely,   236, 

255,  259,  304,  305,  306 
Wooler,  Northumberland,  41 
Worsley,  Rev.  Canon,  136 

Yorkshire  Post,  quotation  from,  152 
Zetland,  Lord,  270 


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